Magical Girl Nanoha 12?
by Lost Star
Summary: A Ranma and Nanoha fusion. No Ranma as the magical girl, no Ranma overpowering everything else. Just a meeting between two children, and the repercussions that begin to snowball. Be afraid, because the term befriending might develop new meaning.
1. Chapter 1

Another story by me. Series included are Ranma 1/2 and Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha. I hope you enjoy. Please forgive any errors, and HTML code that I missed.

* * *

It was a lovely evening, the sun was just beginning to set and the sky was slowly fading into orange and gold colors. Today was a good day, even the few remaining people traveling too and from work seemed to think so. Smiles were prevalent, and every now and again there was a laugh.

One such person walking home seemed to be particularly cheerful. A tiny nine year old girl dressed in a white school uniform skipped happily across the sidewalk, not a care in the world. Her name was Nanoha Takamachi, she was a third grader. By all accounts, she was a lovely little girl, her light auburn hair was done up into two tiny pigtails, and her dark blue eyes laughed as she skipped and hummed a random tune.

In contrast was the boy in front of her. He wasn't laughing, or humming. He was staggering along, breathing heavily as he tried to recover himself. His once white gi was now a faint brown, and he looked remarkably exhausted. Every step seemed to be in agony as he clutched his side and winced. This boy, was ten. He had a black ponytail, and bright blue eyes. His name was Ranma Saotome, and a less kind person would call him a vagrant. His eyes weren't laughing as he stepped one step after another, and another, and another.

Most of the people on the street ignored the boy, even as they smiled at the girl. He was dirty, and the few people on the street were more comfortable ignoring the boy than acknowledging the boy. One or two people stopped him to see what was the matter, but a scowl from the boy scared them away.

On a different day, Nanoha might have ignored the boy as well, or maybe Ranma would have not been on the street at this time. This day however, this day, this future would became quite..... Interesting.

* * *

Magical Lyrical Nanoha 1/2?!

A Ranma 1/2 and Magical Lyrical Nanoha fusion.

* * *

"Ummmm." Nanoha hesitated a moment as she spotted the dirty boy in front of her.

On one hand, he didn't look like he wanted help, but on the other he might need help. It was an interesting thought, but ultimately Nanoha was a kind girl, and she hated to see people suffer. So she sped up her walk until she was right beside the boy and leaned forward, ignoring the rank smell of his unwashed gi.

"Are you ok?" She asked the struggling boy.

The boy glared at her as he continued to walk forward. His hand never moved from his side as he took another staggered step and a deep shuddering breath. "I'm fine!" He barked out. "Just got a cramp from runnin', that's all."

"It looks painful." The girl in the white uniform replied. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

"Humph." Ranma snorted slightly and moved away, uncomfortable at the proximity, the girl moved right with him. "Not as if a girl could be any help anyway."

Nanoha frowned mightily, and got in front of the boy, forcing him to stop. Crossing her arms she leaned forward and gave Ranma a look. "I will have you know that girls can do just as much as boys can do."

"Nah, girls are weak." Ranma straightened up as he ignored the stitch in his side, trying to not to be obvious about how uncomfortable Nanoha was making him.

"Really?" Nanoha smirked slightly. "I bet I can prove you wrong there."

"As if." Ranma stuck out his tongue. "Whaaa!"

TWUNK!

Both children tumbled to the ground as Nanoha tackled Ranma. She ignored the fact that she had a skirt on, and her backpack was still strapped on her back. Her only thought was winning what was rapidly escalating into an all out wrestling match. At his peak this would have been little problem for Ranma. He was incredibly strong for his age, and almost inhumanely skilled. He was scared though, scared of hurting the girl, scared of her proximity, and just pain scared in general right now. He was also tired from his run.

The rolled around the sidewalk, Ranma trying not to hurt the girl, Nanoha laughing as she tried to pin Ranma in one of the few holds she knew. At some point she lost her backpack, and her clothing rapidly became scuffed and dirty.

"Hey watch it!" Ranma cringed as a flailing knee just barely missed hitting him square in between his legs. "Knock it off you crazy chick!"

"Admit it!" Nanoha laughed as she rolled Ranma onto his back. "Girls are just as strong as boys!"

"Nuh uh!" Ranma snickered himself as he rolled Nanoha off him, getting to his feet and picking up the kicking girl. One knee hit his chin perfectly, and the boy flopped to the ground, dropping Nanoha as he saw stars.

"Umm, are you ok?" Nanoha got to her feet and looked at the stunned boy.

"Ok, you're just as strong as me." Ranma got out woozily. "Can I go now?"

"Hehehe......" Nanoha scratched her head as she looked around, finding several of the bystanders staring at her and the boy incredulously. "Ooops."

"Huh?" Ranma got to his feet and dusted himself off. The boy blinked at the surrounding people and sighed. "Commere."

"Whaaa?" Nanoha blinked as she found herself and he backpack scooped up. "Eeeeeck!" She squeaked once as she found herself almost flying as the boy jumped onto a fence and began to run. For a brief moment the girl was scared, but once she found herself not falling she giggled.

"There we go!" Ranma stopped at a deserted section of the street and hopped off the fence. "All set."

"Wow!" Nanoha smiled brightly at the boy. "How'd you do that?"

Ranma blinked at Nanoha. "It's easy, you just get on, and run. Pops can do it a lot better than me tho'." His tone was slightly confused. "It's not that big a deal, you should see me hop on the roofs. That's a lot harder right now."

"You can jump on roofs?" Nanoha looked to the building and to Ranma, measuring the height.

"Well... Small ones." Ranma blushed and scratched his head blushing slightly.

"That's so cool!!!" The little girl gushed. "What else can you do?"

Ranma blinked at the now dirty girl, and shrugged. The two began to speak as they walked. Ranma forgetting about his training, and Nanoha forgetting about the fact that she was due home. In fact, they talked for far longer than either of them realized. It was only when Nanoha's phone rang that they both realized that it was dark out.

"Hello?" Nanoha's eyes grew round as she realized what time it was. "I'm so sorry mom! I'll be home soon!"

Ranma tilted his head as he watched the girl speak on the phone. He had never really actually watched someone use one of the things before. They looked kinda neat.

"Yes, I found a new friend! His name is Ranma, and he's so cool! He can jump on buildings and bend metal bars, and he's just like superman!" Nanoha gushed to her mother. "Of course I'll bring him home, everyone wants your cooking!"

Ranma shrugged as he listened. Free food was more than enough incentive for him. That Nanoha probably should have asked him never really mattered to him.

"Umm." The girl slid up to Ranma looking coyly at him. "Do you think you could do that fence thing again so that we can get home fast?"

"Sure." Ranma replied nonchalantly as he scooped up Nanoha, and hopped onto the fence and began to run.

"Wheee!" Nanoha pointed. "That way! Turn!" She shouted out, laughing all the while.

In short order they arrived at Nanoha's house. Setting down the giggling girl, Ranma slumped to the ground panting. That had about reached his limit of how much he could do in a day.

"Wow." The male voice from the house made Ranma look up. "And here I thought little Nanoha was exaggerating."

The man had brown hair and a small smile on his face. He looked like a normal father figure. Ranma saw them every day while he walked around. None of them made the hairs on the back of his head raise up.

"Daddy!" Nanoha smiled and waved. "This is Ranma!"

"Hello Ranma, I am Nanoha's father, Shiro." The man bowed briefly and continued "So tell me, are you the reason that my daughter looks like she got into a fight?"

"More like she attacked me...." Ranma mumbled briefly, then blinked as Nanoha began to blush.

"Ah kids these days." Shiro sighed and began to walk into the house. "Be sure to get cleaned up Nanoha. Ranma, you too, if you want to eat at this table you need to be clean."

"Huh!?" Ranma looked down at his dirty gi. "Why? I don't have a change of clothes. I am just gonna get dirty again!"

"You can wear some of big brother's old clothes!" Nanoha began to drag Ranma.

"Hey wait!" Ranma shook off the brief feeling. It was like he had just had a noose around his neck for a moment there. Weird, Shiro looked completely normal too.

* * *

"So little sister found another stray eh?" Nanoha's big brother chuckled "This one sounds really interesting."

"Yes, he is." Shiro replied as he sipped at his tea.

Dinner at the Takamachi's table was always an interesting affair. Subtly formal, yet relaxed, it was dominated by the good food and loving family. Currently Nanoha's mother, Momoko, was slowly placing the plates of food out. At the table was Nanoha's brother, Kyoya, her sister, Miyuki, and her father. It was easy to see the resemblance between them. Nanoha took after her mother, with long auburn hair and a soft smile. Her siblings took after her father.

"So he can bend metal bars and jump buildings." Kyoya smirked at the image of a ten year old imitating superman.

"I saw him run in carrying Nanoha." Shiro replied as he continued to sip his tea. "There are rumors of people capable of becoming far greater than anything you think might be possible. This, Ranma, seems to be one of them."

"Hey! Lemmie go! Wait!!!" SPLOOSH!

"Umm.." Miyuki chuckled slightly as she heard the yelling from the bathroom. "I think we should be more worried about what Nanoha will do to him than what he will do to Nanoha."

"She's a good judge of character." Shiro nodded at his wife as the woman walked to the bathroom with a worried look at her face. "Our dear Nanoha is far more mature than her age suggests."

"No fair talking about me when I'm not there!" The girl in question bounced into the room with a smile. "Ranma will be here in a minute! He has to dry off!" All the dirt that had been on the girl was off, and she was in a simple colored dress instead of her now dirty uniform.

"Considering the ruckus that happened, I am not surprised." Kyoya smiled into his drink.

Nanoha wrinkled her nose. "For such a strong boy, he was sure a wimp about taking a bath."

The table chuckled. In a moment, Momoko came in, guiding a sheepish looking Ranma. The boy was dressed in a simple black tee shirt and pants. Cleaned up he looked remarkably handsome, but whipcord thin, and every time he moved you could see his muscles ripple through his shirt. At his age there should be baby fat, a certain roundness in almost all children. There was none in Ranma.

"Have a seat here." Momoko pulled out a chair and settled in Ranma.

The boy's eyes went wide as he looked at the table. "Whoaaaaaa."

"Hehe." Nanoha giggled at the boy. "Have as much as you like!"

For one brief moment the boy looked at the smiling table, before he began piling up his plate. That got a few raised eyebrows, until the entire family realized that Ranma had already eaten half his plate and showed now sign of slowing down.

"Umph!" Ranma gulped and burped. "Its really good!" Everyone at the table was a bit wide eyed as the boy filled up his second plate. "Really really good!"

"You know, before I thought he wasn't being fed." Nanoha's father murmured softly to his wife. "But now I think he just ate his family out of house and home."

"Wow.." Nanoha blinked a few times, then looked at her plate. "Hey! Eat your own food!"

"But its so goood!" Ranma gulped down a few more bites.

"I don't care how good it is, it doesn't excuse you being rude!" The little girl scolded Ranma.

"Steal some back!" Ranma smirked at Nanoha. "You have to be fast if you want to get as good as I am!"

"Humph." Nanoha kicked Ranma in the shin underneath the table. "Play nice or you won't get invited back!"

Ranma immediately slowed down, and looked at Nanoha with wide eyes, cradling his third bowl of food. "But, but, but..." His eyes began to tear up.

Nanoha giggled at Ranma. "Ok, ok.."

"I think we should be sure that we have advance notice." Momoko murmured at her husband. "That boy will triple our food bill if we were to feed him full time."

"Hehe." Shiro chuckled at his wife.

* * *

"Thank you for the food!" Ranma called out as he began to leave the house.

"It was a pleasure having you." Shiro bowed to Ranma as the boy left. "Perhaps next time you can demonstrate a few things that Nanoha was bragging about?"

"Sure." The little boy began to walk out into the night.

"Oh, Ranma?" The boy in question turned around "When you get home can you tell your parents to speak with me?"

Ranma shrugged at the older man "I guess, it's kinda hard ta get pops to do anything though." With that Ranma jumped onto the fence again and began to trot gracefully away.

"He's a good boy." Shiro sighed and turned in to head inside. "I am not sure I want to know what he had to go through to be as strong as he is right now though."

"He is interesting." Momoko replied from her place inside.

"Did Nanoha say why she was so attached to the kid?" Shiro tilted his head at his wife. "She usually doesn't bring in human strays."

"She just said that he had such scared eyes at first." The woman sighed. "But I didn't see any of that.

"Nanoha's greatest strength is her empathy." The man smiled at his wife. "She is a very good daughter, and takes after her mother."

"Flatterer."

* * *

The next day was another sunny day. It was warmer, but just as beautiful as the previous day. Summer around this area was usually fairly mild, and often times the days drifted by in an almost dreamy haze.

At the Takamachi house, little Nanoha went through her early morning wake up, slowly and steady dragging herself out of bed in the almost comedic mockery of a zombie. The girl was obviously not a morning person, but she got up anyway. Her mornings consisted of a sleepy stumble forward and out of bed, then right to the bathroom to clean herself up. It was only after a long soak that she was able to function the rest of the day.

At the Saotome's campsite, there was a different approach for a wake up. Full contact sparring. The two figures almost danced around the campsite, sometimes in the air, sometimes on the ground. There was one large tent, and a small fire with a very large pot on top of it. The two figures were very obviously avoiding that part of the site.

"HIYAH!" Ranma punched forward, his fist impacting against his father's forearm to no noticeable affect.

"Faster boy! No opponent of yours is going to sit there and LET you hit!" Ranma Saotome's father was a large man, burly, and well muscled.

Where Ranma's build was lanky and build for speed, Genma was obviously built for strength. Dressed in one of his many white gi's and with a handkerchief wrapped around his head, with a pair of glasses that gleamed as he fought, the man looked like one of those old martial arts teachers. While Genma looked built for strength however, he was actually trained in speed as the man so aptly demonstrated on Ranma's next attack.

A quick leg sweep knocked the boy off his feet, and another kick flipped him into the air. Ranma had the briefest moment to defend himself before he found himself knocked backwards and into a tree halfway across the campsite. The boy hit the tree upsidown, and slumped down with a groan of pain.

"Humph, sloppy." Genma adjusted his glasses. "At least you took the fall right. Remember that combo, tomorrow I am going to use it again."

"Owwwy." Ranma groaned and fell over.

"Nothing is broken, you're just bruised boy." Genma frowned mightily and moved forward, lifting up Ranma by the back of his gi. "Work through it, and practice your healing mantra's while you train today."

The young boy grumbled as he dangled from Genma's grip. Crossing his arms he pouted. "I gotta run again today don't I?"

Genma snorted to himself. "No boy, you did a good job of it yesterday. I DID say I would make sure you were doing it, didn't I? Never underestimate your father!"

"Lazy old man." Ranma stuck out his tongue, slightly relieved.

"Go get cleaned up, and make sure you scrub this time." Genma growled out at Ranma. "You took a bath yesterday, got free food, and still came back absolutely filthy."

With that Genma tossed Ranma in the direction of the stream that served as a bath for the two of them. Ranma flew into the air, and landed like a cat almost out of sight. Rubbing his head a moment to remove the vertigo of the throw, the boy began to trot off to the stream.

At the campsite Genma grabbed the large pot and stirred it for a moment. It was generic rice, but it was enough considering the amount he and Ranma could eat. A quick check determined it was cooked, and Genma began scooping out several large scoops of rice.

"Bleck, just rice again." Ranma muttered as he walked back into the campsite.

"Either rice, or starve boy." Genma replied as he sat down across from Ranma with a mighty scowl. "Make sure you eat the vitamins too, if I find you didn't we are going to do some special training."

"Urk." Ranma paled slightly as he sat down across from his father. Special training usually involved something terrifying. The last one involving a chair, a bunch of wolves, and a swamp had given him nightmares for weeks.

"I think that there is a train nearby that we could do something with." Genma watch his child with a small smile. The boy had noticeably paled and was now eating as fast as he could. "Be glad it's breakfast, I got something good lined up for lunch, and if you aren't fast enough it's just going to be just rice again for you."

Ranma blinked at his father, eyes going round and watery.

"Bah!" Genma looked away, he knew his son was faking, but the puppy eyes got him every time. "Practice your speed, and be back here in time for lunch."

"Yes pops!" Ranma saluted and finished off his bowl. "What do I gotta do today?"

"Today is a very important lesson." Genma intoned, looking as wise as he could. "I want you to go around the block, memorize every street sign on the block, where it is, and what every house is numbered."

"Huh?"

"Don't question your teacher boy!" The older man growled out. "If you can figure out the exercise before tonight I'll go easy on you tomorrow. If you can't you get a double block of sparring."

"I'm going, I'm going!" Ranma began to run off, still not sure what was going on, but not willing to risk Genma getting any new ideas.

Genma snorted lightly to himself as his child ran away. He wasn't going to get it probably, but who knew? Honestly it was an easy way to give the boy a rest from yesterday, and try to teach him something important. Knowing how dense Ranma could be really didn't give him hope for the second reason any time soon. The first reason was rather important though.

Now time to see if he would have to change his plans. With that thought Genma got to his feet and began to slowly meander out of the quietly hidden campsite and into the city street. The rush hour was just starting to begin, but the pedestrians gave Genma a wide berth. His quiet confidence and hefty build precluded anyone getting in his way. One or two people did bump him as he went on his way, but for them it was like hitting a steel wall more than hitting a person.

Finally the martial artist found himself at a quaint home. You could almost feel the family vibes coming from the place, and right in back was a small family owned dojo. This was probably the place, but considering who gave the directions.. With a loud, put upon sigh, Genma walked up to the house and knocked on the door loudly. Either it was the place or it wasn't.

"Hello?" Nanoha's mother blinked as she opened the door. It wasn't every day that a man wearing a gi knocked on your door after all.

"Good morning." Genma bowed quickly in greeting. "I am looking for the parent's of Nanoha? My name is Genma Saotome."

"Oh! You're Ranma's father aren't you?" Momoko brightened up slightly. "I am sorry if we kept the boy too long."

Genma just shook his head with a small laugh. "Don't worry about it, you fed my boy. I can imagine what he might have done to your table."

"Well.." Momoko giggled slightly before she took a step back. "Oh! Where are my manners, come in. My husband would like to speak with you."

Genma gave another bow and took a step inside, politely removing his shoes. "Thank you for inviting me in. I'm sure we have much to talk about." The man could already hear the accusations of child abuse and other crimes.

It was almost comical how many times he had to deal with this exact thing. Sometimes he had to talk the parent's down, other times he actually had to leave the area. In a way the police were easier to deal with. So long as he could prove that Ranma was perfectly happy and healthy they usually backed off. It was hard on the boy too. He was naturally friendly, and almost too kind sometimes.

This was looking like one of the times where Genma would have to pick it up and move on. It was rather sad in a way. Ever since that incident the boy had been twitchy and withdrawn. Last night had been almost a miracle in how much more lively Ranma had been. It would take effort to make sure that the boy didn't backslide.

"Genma Saotome?" Nanoha's father got up from his place on the couch. "I am Shiro Takamachi. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." Genma bowed slightly and took the seat offered. "My boy said you wanted to see me."

"Indeed I did." Shiro smiled at his wife as the woman sat next to him. "We were wondering about your boy Ranma."

"Of course." Genma sighed internally, here it came.

"Exactly how strong is the boy?"

Genma found himself slightly startled at the topic. It took a moment, but he got the idea of where this was going. A bit different than the usual accusation. "Strong enough." Genma sighed a took a deep breath at the parent's look. "If the boy ever got it in his head too, he could probably break a grown man in half. You don't need to worry about that though, I have beat it very thoroughly into his head to be gentle."

"Nanoha apparently got into a fight with the boy when she met him." Shiro murmured something to his wife, and the woman got to her feet with a smile. "She was a bit scuffed in places, but she didn't have any broken bones, or for that matter bruises. I was more curious as to why you trained him to be capable of that."

"I want my son to be the best martial artist, period." Genma gave a shrug. To him that was everything, no matter the hardship, no matter what he had to do to him or his son.

Momoko came back into the room with a small tea set and a few cookies. With a smile she offered Genma some, and then sat down again, leaning against her husband lovingly. Despite himself, Genma felt a small pang.

"He's a sweet boy." Momoko smiled warmly. "He can visit anytime."

"Indeed." Shiro smiled at his wife before turning to Genma. "What are your plans for now? I assume you aren't local, since Nanoha hasn't dragged your son here earlier."

Genma snorted slightly, but was honestly surprised. Usually he had at least a death threat by now. "I am probably going to train my son here a month or so, he recently got into a training accident, and needs time to find his center. There aren't any dojos here with anything Ranma could learn, so I would probably have to pick up and leave soon."

"Well.." Shiro trailed off with a look at Genma. The gi-clad man sat impassive. "Perhaps we could arrange something. I would hate for Nanoha to loose a friend so soon after meeting him, and Ranma is honestly a very interesting boy. Maybe we can teach a few things."

"That would be very kind of you." Genma adjusted his glasses. He knew where this was going now.

With that the two families began to hash out a few details. It took a few hours, but in the end Genma had decided to find an apartment, and stay in the area for a good long while. Some of these family styles could get very formidable, and Genma was willing to take a few risks to get his son trained.

* * *

"Bleck, still don't know why pops want's me to do this." Ranma scowled to himself as he looked up at the street sign. "Now how do you pronounce that one?"

Squinting at the street sign did nothing to help him read it. Sure he could tell what the letters were, but the signs were starting to blend together. Ranma had been trying to memorize the streets all day, and if he was lucky could recite perhaps half of them right now. The thing was this entire area was rather upscale, and a single city block was larger than he had thought when he had started the task.

Rubbing at his eyes Ranma scowled at the sign and tried his best to memorize the name. That was the best he was going to do right now. He almost preferred having to run all day. Sure he wasn't dirty today, but at least he had something to focus on. This was getting ridiculous.

"Ranma!" A female voice made the boy look behind him. "What are you doing glaring at the street sign."

"Pops has some weird ideas of training." The tiny martial artist muttered in reply, turning around to see Nanoha walking up to him with two other girls. "I gotta memorize all the street signs and buildings around the block."

"That's kinda weird." The purple haired girl at Nanoha's side commented.

"You don't know pops." Ranma shrugged. "I can't figure out what the heck he wanted though, so I'm just gonna run around the block a few times then try again later."

"Umm, Ranma.." Nanoha placed a finger on her mouth in thought as she looked at the boy. "How long have you been doing this?"

Ranma blinked a few times, then looked up at the sun. "Let's see. Got up at sunrise, sparred with pops, ran around a bit looking at the signs, ran around a bit more, ate lunch and beat on pops some more." The boy trailed off. "Since the sun came up I guess."

Nanoha sighed, and the two girls next to her giggled slightly in disbelief. "Well, it's almost time for cram school for us, but we were going to get some snacks, you want to come with?" Left unsaid was that she wanted him to take a break.

Ranma visibly brightened, and ran in front of Nanoha with a big smile. "Food!"

"Typical boy." One of the girls at Nanoha's side sighed. "You say food and he forgets everything."

Ranma stuck out his tongue and pulled down his eyelid, ignoring the twitch he got in return. "Meh, it's not like a girrrl would understand." He drew out girl like it was an insult.

"Why you!" The blond haired girl twitched, and Ranma grinned in victory.

"Ranma." Nanoha's voice was cool and slightly irritated.

Both of Nanoha's friends giggled at the boy's face altered at Nanoha's look, and soon the four began to walk along the street. Ranma running back and forth, and every which way while the girls continued their sedate pace. Really Ranma had kind of wanted a fight of some sort. He was bored as heck, and the training that Genma had given him to do was boring. As it was, the tiny martial artist was trying to tire himself out by just running back and forth.

"Nanoha?" The blond haired girl turned when her friend stopped walking.

"Didn't you hear that?" Nanoha tilted her head as she listened.

The girl with purple hair tilted her head as well in an attempt to hear what her friend was talking about. "I didn't hear anything."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked a few times as he turned around. He couldn't hear anything, but he could tell exactly when Nanoha heard it by the way that she twitched again.

Before her friends could ask the question again, Nanoha took off running. The two girls were caught flat footed, but Ranma just blinked a few times and trotted to catch up with her. She was fast for a little girl, but to be quite honest Ranma was far faster.

"I heard it from this way!" Nanoha cried out as she ran pointing in the direction she was running.

Ranma sprinted forward and into a small clearing. Taking a quick look around he frowned to himself. "There is nothing here Nanoha."

"Awww.." The girl stopped behind Ranma and knelt down. In front of her was a small ferret.

Ranma had overlooked the thing as he ran in. He was far more used to wildlife, and had thought it to be nothing more than an injured rat. Kneeling down next to the girl as well the boy frowned slightly. Now that he was looking at it, this didn't look like the injuries and animal got normally.

"Did it get dropped here?" Ranma refrained from poking it. "It looks like it was someone's pet. It's got some weird necklace on it."

"It looks bad!" Nanoha's friends commented as they caught up. "What should we do?"

"Bring it to a doctor?"

"No a vet!"

Ranma sighed as he looked at the two girls. "Well.. If you wanna keep the thing." Ranma shrugged and pulled off his gi top. Wrapping the top around the ferret he got to his feet and lifted the creature up. "Injured animals bite."

"The vet is this way!" One of the girls pointed out as she got off her phone.  


* * *

Whack! Whack! Wackwackwackwack THWUNK!

"Owwy."

It was night now. Slightly cloudy, but not one of the worst nights to be out in. The noise from inside the dojo that belonged to Nanoha's family really just added to the atmosphere. Ranma had been practicing there since he had eaten dinner anyway, and he wasn't done quite yet.

THWUNK!

Then again, maybe he was.

With a nervous look outside the boy slowly and almost stealthily began to walk out. He had a few visible bruises, but looked fairly happy and just a little bit dirty. The boy liked training. Well, training at his own pace at least. Genma's version of training would break lesser folk, and it was only because Ranma had grown up with the man that he was capable of handling it. Ranma had actually lost track of time in the dojo, and it was only with that latest mistake that he realized how late it was.

So the boy was sneaking home right now. Maybe he could get lucky and Genma would be sound asleep. Ranma didn't have high hopes of that actually.

A faint, far off crash made Ranma pause in his way home and frown mightily. He was familiar with a lot of breaking sounds, and that was like more something from a construction site than something you should hear at night. So with a shrug and a small smirk the boy began to run in the direction of the sound. Something that big this late at night was probably far more interesting than sneaking home.

Another crash sounded off, this one louder and far more violent sounding. Ranma picked up the pace at the sound of a small shriek. This didn't sound like something good.

Even prepared as he was for something unusual Ranma was forced to stop for a moment at the sight as he turned onto the street where he had heard the crash.

There was a crater in the center of the street. Not something that Ranma could do on a good day, but something that looked more like it was from a bomb. Whatever had caused the damage was still in there as well. It was black and nearly formless except for the glowing eyes. Eyes which were centering on the figure in white nearby.

Ranma didn't think, he just reacted as soon as he identified the creature's target. Moving faster than he had ever done in his life the boy drop kicked the black creature. It was like kicking sludge. His foot just sunk into the thing and it roared in pain.

"Nanoha!" The boy growled out as he ripped his foot out of the sludge and kicked it upwards as hard as he could. "Get away!"

The girl didn't seem to acknowledge him, concentrated as she was on the gem that the ferret had been wearing. For one brief moment Ranma was afraid the girl was frozen, but to his disbelief the tiny gem flared and grew. Where there once was a gem, there was now a staff and an entirely different outfit on the girl.

"What the..." Ranma almost forgot about the creature that he had been kicking, but years of Genma's sneak attacks had prepared him. The creature roared and its eyes glowed as almost taffy like it stretched itself out, lashing tendrils of itself across the street and just missing a dodging Ranma.

Then with one mighty heave the thing whiled itself into a large ball and leapt, far higher than it had a right too and barreled itself towards a cringing Nanoha. Ranma panicked for a moment, the angle was all wrong for him to intercept it, and it was going to hit the girl.

"Nanoha! Move damnit!" The boy cursed as he pushed off the side of the crater and into the air. He was going to be too late.

Ranma blinked at the pink barrier that formed. The creature was frozen in place as it attempted to crush the girl under it's weight, and you could see the battle of momentum that was taking place. It was decidedly in the girl's favor. The creature exploded under the force of the rebound and splattered everywhere. The shear force of the explosion caused the pieces to act more like shotgun shells than the taffy like texture that the creature had before. It was not kind to the person without the magical barrier. Nanoha was protected fine, but Ranma took the full force.

He coughed from the pain as he touched down, several new bruises and cuts adorning his body. Turning around he glared at the damage the creature had caused to the surrounding area before he realized that the pieces were still moving.

"Ok, explanations later." Saotome final attack then. "RUN!"

Grabbing the still slightly stunned Nanoha the boy began to sprint across the street. He barely took note of the ferret still clutched in Nanoha's grip, that is until it spoke.

"We need to seal it."

"WHAAA!" Ranma's eyes went wide as he looked at the rodent. To his credit he didn't drop Nanoha, but he was still very freaked. "The rat thing is talking!"

"His name is Yuno." Nanoha said simply as she waved the staff. "This is his staff I think."

"So you need to 'seal' that thing?" Ranma questioned as he took a quick corner and jumped a fence. This place was relatively clear, so he could fight it without having to worry about smashing important things. "How does a weasel seal something like THAT?"

"Nanoha is capable of doing it, she just needs time to feel how to." The ferret answered, still rather calm, well as calm as rodent could be while being jostled along.

Ranma couldn't help but think that there was another conversation going on behind the two, but to be quite honest with the big black thing chasing smashing the streets he was willing to make a few allowances. "Ok, so I distract the thing and you do whatever."

Setting down Nanoha the boy leapt back on top of the fence to look for the black thing. Behind him Nanoha pointed her staff forward and began to concentrate. Looking around Ranma thought for a moment that he had lost the thing, but then was able to spot it lurking, and then leaping into the air.

"Here it comes!" The boy called out as the thing barreled downwards into his perch. A quick back flip allowed him to avoid the impact crater. Blurring his hands, Ranma was able to catch some of the flying debris, and deflect the rest that had been heading towards Nanoha.

"Hit it just right and it will turn back into a jewel seed!" Yuno called from the side, and out of the way.

"Got it!" Nanoha called out as her staff lit up. "Jewel Seed Seal!" Pink ribbons of power shot forward and engulfed the black beast, just barely missing the dodging Ranma.

The thing roared once, loud and long as the ribbons wrapped around it's form. Then right between it's glowing eyes the roman numeral XXI lit up, and the thing dissolved in a bright flash of light.

"Huh." Ranma blinked as he watched the last remnants of the creature disappear. "Cool."

A small jewel like thing dropped to the ground. Approaching it warily the boy blinked at the almost innocent looking diamond. He was tempted to poke it, but considering the fact that it had just been a big raging beast he was probably best not. Nanoha seemed to have the same idea, but she poked it with the staff, and the diamond disappeared into it.

"Receipt number twenty one." The staff spoke as it lit up.

"Ya know, it means something that I'm not more freaked at the staff talking too." Ranma commented, looking back at the ferret. "Huh?"

"Yuno!" Nanoha ran to the downed rodent. "Are you ok?"

"Fine.. I just overexerted myself." Yuno replied as he was lifted. "We should probably get out of here though."

"Erk." Ranma paled noticeably as he heard the sirens. "I don't like police."

"Umm." Nanoha's magical staff disappeared along with the white clothing that came with it. "Lets run!"

Ranma snickered slightly and lifted up the girl and began to sprint away. Nanoha didn't even squeak as the boy jumped over a few fences and sprinted to a deserted park. Once there he set the girl down at a bench and dropped to the ground while taking a deep breath.

"Now what the heck is going on?" Ranma finally asked as he looked at the ferret.

"It's a rather long." The ferret paused as he propped himself up. "Explanation. I am sorry for getting you involved in all this."

"It was pretty cool." The boy shrugged.

"Oh!" Nanoha perked up as she thought of something introductions first. "My name is Nanoha Takamachi, and this is Ranma Saotome."

"Ah." The ferret gave a small bow. "I am Yuno Scrya. I am glad to make your acquaintance." One could hear how timid the thing was talking with the two.

"As for why I am here and what the monster was.." Sighing the ferret began to explain. "It's my fault. I was the one who found them, and I am the one responsible for collecting them. They are called.. Jewel Seeds..."

* * *

Ranma frowned as the ferret began to lecture. He knew it was important, but getting the boy to stay still was about as easy as convincing a bird not to fly. The only way you could do it is either break something or make him so exhausted he couldn't move. So Ranma did what he always did when he had to pay attention, he found something to play with.

"My clan and I are archeologists. " Yuno continued, unaware the direction of Ranma's thoughts and actions. "It was on a dig that we found them. They are part of an ancient civilization, and particular artifacts of this classification are called Lost Logia. These Lost Logia in particular are called Jewel Seeds. They are believed to be capable of granting wishes, but as that creature showed, they can have far different affects."

"So someone wished for that creature to appear?" Nanoha asked as she tilted her head.

"Not exactly. Whatever their original purpose the Jewel Seeds run on desire, and when there is no one around they start to coalesce into something like what you saw. Their powers can be rather random and unpredictable, so we decided that it would be best to have them sealed and stored." Yuno sighed and curled up in Nanoha's lap. "Instead though, they were scattered across this world in transit. I was the one who found them, so I am going to be the one to seal them back up. I just need to rest first, just a few days."

"We will help." Nanoha stated in reply. "Right Ranma?"

"Hmm?" Ranma looked up from the object he had been staring at. "I was kinda gonna help anyway. That was rather fun."

"You can't." Yuno got to his feet in consternation. "It's my responsibility!"

"And you got beat up." Ranma rolled his eyes at the ferret. "Not that big a deal if we help. Better that then people getting hurt."

"Right!" Nanoha nodded then blinked. "What're you playing with?"

"Huh?" Ranma held out the red gem that had been Nanoha's staff. "Wanted to see if I could make it do what you did." The boy frowned at the gem. "I can feel it tugging at me, but it's not doing it."

"Eh!?" Nanoha reached inside her shirt, where she had hidden the jewel. "When did you grab that!?"

"Just now." Ranma shrugged. "I think I got it though!" Ranma closed his eyes and frowned.

"Access Denied, insufficient mana." The gem flashed as it chimed back.

"Hey!" Nanoha snatched the gem back. "Sorry Raising Heart, Ranma's a bit rude and didn't know any better."

"It's ok, my master." The gem chimed again and went silent.

"Wait, wait, wait." The boy glared at the gem. "How does she get the staff and I get that weird message."

"Raising Heart has a threshold in which it will deny a user. " Yuno sighed and curled up into a little ball, he sounded very drowsy. "It's actually really conservative, and can be overridden, but if you can't access it usually means you could only maintain it for a few hours at best. An Intelligent Device requires mana almost constantly, and at it's lowest setting you would probably be drained dry after a week or so."

"And the little girl can do better than me?!" Ranma replied with outrage.

"Master Ranma, magical level rated at rank D. Master Nanoha magical level rated at rank A." The device flashed in answer.

Ranma just grumbled in reply as Nanoha looked at the gem in shock. "Is that good?" The girl finally asked.

"E, D, C, B, A, S, S plus." Yuno mumbled out as he began to snore. "D is below average, and A rank is something like one in one thousand on Mid-Childa. That's just magical level though, most people can't really use it right."

"I think the thing is broke." Ranma grumbled out.

"Incorrect." Raising Heart replied.

"I think it's time to go home." The girl laughed as she lifted up Yuno carefully. "We can talk again tomorrow."

"Yeah." Ranma got to his feet and wiped at the blood that the monster had drawn. The skin underneath was completely clean and unmarked. "I just gotta go wash up real quick first. Don't want pops to figure something's up."

"Wow.." Nanoha looked at Ranma. "You're completely healed."

Ranma winced slightly at the reminder. "Yeah, I don't scar either. Weird training technique, really, really painful to learn though. Little stuff is easy, but the bigger it gets the harder it gets."

"I want to learn that." Nanoha giggled a bit. "No more ouchies."

"No." Ranma stated flatly. "The training hurts, bad."

"Ummm." The girl looked at the boy curiously. "Really bad?"

"Yeah, really bad." The tiny martial artist replied flatly. "Only reason Pops even started it with me was cause I broke both my legs, and that hurt LESS."

"Urk." Nanoha turned slightly pale. "You broke both your legs?"

"Not talking about it." Ranma finally sighed and began to walk away. "I will see you tomorrow."

"Umm, bye." Nanoha waved and sighed. "I think I touched on something a bit sensitive. I will apologize later." The girl commented softly to the ferret in her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

"Get up boy!" Genma's voice was loud and irritating and the sound of it made the tiny pony tailed marital artist groan.

"Five more minutes." The boy curled up inside his sleeping bag with a soft grumble.

"You should have thought of that before you came back so late." The man gripped the boy by the collar and lifted him. Almost comically the sleeping bag came with, much like a tiny caterpillar with a human for a head. Sighing at the still snoozing boy Genma shook his son a few times, and managing to both wake him up and shake off the sleeping bag.

Now fully awake the boy struggled under Genma's grip for a moment blearily before flipping up and trying to kick the holding hand. "Damnit pops!"

"Language boy!" Genma growled out as he let go and took a step back. "You are far too young to be using words quite like that yet."

"Bidahhh!" Ranma stuck out his tongue and got into a fighting stance.

"Not quite yet boy." Genma sighed and pulled out several sheets of paper. "Since you got back so late you never got the chance to demonstrate your proficiency. It's a shame too, you might have actually had a chance had you not gone to sleep." Genma smirked evilly and held out a gleaming pen.

"Proficiency?" The tiny martial artist blinked at his father and the pen.

"Of course, you did do what I asked did you not?" Genma continued to smirk evilly and pushed the pen at his son. "Now, draw a map of the area. And label every building. All of them."

"Urk." Ranma looked down at the paper and up at his father. "What the hell?"

"Language boy." The man scolded. "This is a very important lesson. What are the basic rules of Anything Goes?"

"Learn, adapt, overcome or steal." The boy replied with a small scowl at the last one.

"This is learning." Genma crossed his arms and sat down. "Normally I would beat this into your head, but I think this is a bit more effective right now. Especially if I can beat it into your head afterwards when you screw up. Do you know what the most important thing in fighting a real fight is?"

"That's easy! How skilled you are!" Ranma smirked slightly.

"Wrong!" Genma enjoyed the almost comical look on his son's face. "The most important thing is the world around the fight. If you don't know where to dodge, where the next obstacle is, or how you can use the world to win, you will lose. I am not teaching you to fight in some little sandbox in some dojo. You will learn that soon enough. What I am teaching you is something far different."

Ranma tilted his head. It was actually pretty rare to hear his father get to lecture like this.

"Ultimately I'm teaching you to PAY ATTENTION!" Genma roared out the last part, and Ranma fell back in shock. "Most people don't, they pass by looking at the world through some cloud. I'm teaching you to be the greatest, the best there ever was and ever will be." Genma settled back as Ranma rubbed his head and got to a seated position. "There will be blood, and sweat, and tears from both of us. But I will be sure to make you surpass everyone. This is just the first step."

"So I gotta write down a bunch of street names and building numbers and that will help me get to be a better fighter?" Ranma asked incredulously as he looked at the paper.

Sighing Genma smacked his boy upside the head. "Oh, what a dense son I have!" He called out to the heavens. "What a shameless son, to question his own father so."

Rubbing his head from the impact Ranma looked at his father flatly. "Ya know that stopped working when I was six right?"

"Such an ungrateful son." Genma sighed and sat down across from his son finally. "Memorization, boy. Terrain observation. Today we are going to play a game. After you write down what you can remember, you are going to run, and I am going to chase you. If you can get to a place that I call out, you are safe. If I catch you, you have to find me at another place I call out."

"And what happens if I can't find you?"

"Well my boy, I will make sure you learn this lesson, even if it kills you." Genma replied ominously.

* * *

"Ring ring ring." The phone lit up as it rang. "Ring ring ring." A small hand slowly reached out and pulled the phone underneath the covers.

The room was silent as a small beep sounded off from the phone. The ferret in the room looked up from his new basket in bemused curiosity as the sheets rustled and Nanoha slowly pushed herself up with a massive yawn. With sleepy eyes the girl smiled at her newest friend and staggered out of the room.

"Good morning Yuno." The girl mumbled as she went into the bathroom.

"Ah.. Good morning Nanoha." The ferret replied as the girl left.

The sound of running water ran for some time, then a considerably more awake and fully dressed Nanoha re-entered the room. "We can talk later when I get back from school, ok? I think I still have a few questions."

"Of course." Yuno replied hesitantly. _"But if you would like we can talk this way while you are still at school." _ It was like hearing him speak like a whisper in ones ear. It echoed though, and there was a faint pressure that made it feel more mental than anything else.

"You did that last night a little bit." Nanoha tilted her head at the rodent. "I can do that too?"

_"It's a function of Raising Heart, or for that matter any Intelligent Device. Since we have both used it, there is a small link between us."_ The reply came quietly. _"Just focus on Raising Heart, and think of me, the device will do the rest." _

_"Like this?" _Nanoha thought back tentatively.

_ "Yes. " _The reply came immediately.

_"I wonder?"_ Nanoha focused on the pony-tailed martial artist. _"Ranma?" _

_"WHAAAA?!!" _The reply startled both Nanoha and Yuno through the mental link, unnaturally loud and sudden. _"What the #$%!?"_

The girl found herself f blushing bright red as the language that Ranma used in reply. Fortunately she was on the street to her school and no one was looking at her, but still language like that wasn't something that she wanted to hear.

_ "Oh wait... Whoops? This is neat Nanoha!"_ Ranma apparently was able to pick up on the communication style quickly._ "It's like I got one of those lil' cell phones in my head!"_

Nanoha giggled quietly to herself. _"Yuno was going to explain a few things, and I wanted to see if I could talk with you as well." _

_ "Yep!" _ The boy's voice chimed in reply. He was clearly happy about being able to speak with Nanoha this way. _"This is really cool! I can talk with you all the time now."_

For a brief moment Nanoha wondered if this had been such a good idea after all, but she dismissed that idea. Ranma was a friend, and being able to speak with him like this was actually pretty fun. _"Sorry about last night Ranma."_

_ "Huh?" _ The reply paused for a lengthy moment and then Ranma resumed. _"Damnmit pops, quit cheating! Last night, last night.. Oh, that! It's not that big a deal. Training is hard work after all, and some of the stuff I tell people gets me and pops in trouble. You are still pretty normal even with the whole magical girl thing, and I kinda don't want ta see you cry. Heck, I cried when I did with that training, and I am really awesome. " _

_ "I am stronger than I look Ranma."_ Nanoha's reply was firm.

_"Course you are! I don't have weak friends!" _ The boy's voice shot right back. _ "I just don't want to see you cry, that's all." _Somehow the last few words carried the mental equivalent of a shrug.

_"Thank you Ranma." _

Nanoha really had to figure out how the boy was able to transmit the equivalent of a blush like that. It was rather entertaining.

* * *

The boy took deep gasping breaths of air as he hid behind the fence. If Ranma had doubted his father's lesson before he didn't doubt it now. Really, Genma was positive that he would never look at a hanging drape the same way again, or forget about that one innocent little bucket halfway across the ally.

Genma hadn't bothered to actually attack Ranma through this entire ordeal. He had just calmly and efficiently chased the boy down no matter where he hid, and used the surrounding area to clock some sense into his son. To Ranma's credit it hadn't taken that long to sink in, but he was still visibly sporting some serious bruising. The wounds were rapidly healing, but the entire exercise was making Ranma twitchy again, and Genma didn't want to destroy any of the boys recovery. The point was to make him aware, not paranoid.

"That's enough boy." The statement from behind made the boy jump into the air. "I think you have gotten the basics of the lesson."

"Yeah, the world IS out to get me." The boy shot back sarcastically as he slumped to the ground.

"Hah!" Genma adjusted his glasses and smirked at his son. "In a way. You actually already know some of this, but I have sadly neglected this aspect of your training. Fortunately this is the perfect time to get you to learn it right."

"I don't think there is a chance of NOT that happening." Ranma sighed as he looked up at the sky.

Tilting his head Genma looked at his son. To be honest the boy had seemed off today. Nothing he could put his finger on, but he had seemed distracted at some point, where at others he had known places that he hadn't before. Ah well, he would figure it out. "You will figure it out boy, get cleaned up and head out to your friend's house. I really don't care how late you stay since you are perfectly capable of handling yourself. Just make sure that you get enough sleep."

"Yeah yeah." Ranma got to his feet slowly with a small groan. "Owwwy."

Genma snorted in derision as his son walked off. The boy would take a broken arm and keep fighting, but bruise him a bit and he would sit there and complain. He chalked it up to the family quirk of theatrics. Kami knew that he could ham it up if he needed too.

Now to work on that apartment issue. The manager wanted.. REFRENCES. Things like this made him long for the days of free room and board for lessons.

* * *

"I felt it from up this way!" Nanoha pointed up the stairs as she ran. In her hand she held the small gem that was Raising Heart, on her shoulder Yuno sat, and at her side jogged Ranma. "It's getting stronger!"

"On it!" Ranma sped to his maximum speed, seeming to blur up the shrine stairs and out of sight. "GACK!" There was a loud crash and you could see the dust from the impact rise. "I preferred the black thing!"

"Huh?" Nanoha got to the top of the stairs and stared for a moment at the creature.

It was large, black with spikes and spines. It looked more like some sort of dog creature from hell than anything you could imagine finding on earth. It was markedly different than the black blob like creature, this thing looked solid and growled viscously at both children.

"Don't just stand there!" Ranma growled back at the creature as it lunged at the boy. "Nanoha, do the pink thing again!" He jumped over it, and landed right on it's back.

"Right!" Nanoha nodded and clutched Raising Heart in her hand. "Umm.. How did I do that again?"

"You need to activate Raising Heart first!" Yuno called from her shoulder as he watched the dog thing try to buck the irritating boy off it's back. "Repeat after me!"

At that moment the creature succeeded in throwing Ranma off, and with a sharp growl turned towards what it sensed as the greater threat. With one massive bound it charged towards the frozen girl.

"Not again damnit." Ranma muttered as the girl lit up in a surge of pink light. "I swear it's more like she's some sort of cute buffet, and I'm just the fly buzzing around." He really had to talk with the girl about freezing like that though. At least the shield thing had lit up again.

When the pink light died down Nanoha had been pushed back several feet and the beast was stunned from the massive impact. The girl looked to have gotten the better of the exchange, even if she was cringing from the thought of being squished by the creature.

Ranma almost sighed, but channeled the emotion instead, sprinting forward and kicking the creature as hard as he could. Since this was Ranma, that was hard enough to send the creature halfway across the shrine grounds and into a tree stunning the thing.

Nanoha did the rest, sending a barrage of pink ribbons out and enveloping the creature quickly. Just as quickly a small puppy dropped to the ground and the jewel seed floated up and into the staff.

"Receipt No XVI," Chimed Raising Heart.

"That's it." Ranma sighed as he walked up to a happy Nanoha. "It's either you cry, or you die." The boy glared at the suddenly cringing girl. "You are getting training, Saotome style."  


* * *

Crack!

The sound was like a shotgun going off, startling the various birds and animals that dwelled in the area. The entire area was a wildlife haven, deserted near constantly and isolated from the various routes that made up the rest of the park. It was here that Nanoha and Ranma explored the limit's of what they could do to each other. Usually by either indiscriminate violence, or explosions.

CRACK!

The sound echoed again, louder.

Right now was actually more for Ranma than for Nanoha, though they both were benefiting from the training. What it amounted to was Nanoha putting up a barrier, and Ranma slamming his fist or leg as hard as he possibly could into it. The first time they had done it Nanoha had flinched horribly. The second time, Ranma had fractured his hand.

Crack Crack! Thwack!

Now Ranma had managed to figure out the basics of the barrier and was steadily beating on it. The shield flared pink every time that a fist rocketed forward, and a loud impact sounded off on every strike. On Ranma's end there was a light sheen of sweat marring his brow, and his fists looked battered. Nanoha looked scuffed, but in better condition, though she was still panting from the effort.

With a determined look Ranma punched forward again and again. The pink barrier might have looked silly, but it could take a beating, and Nanoha could put up an even stronger version. At least he could break this one if he pushed himself heard enough. That still left the white jacket's barrier. It honestly made Ranma a bit jealous that Nanoha could quite easily match him with almost no training whatsoever.

In fact he had been very jealous when he had seen Nanoha actually start to push herself. The first time she had really let loose had made his jaw drop, and if Yuno hadn't put up a barrier would she have demolished a building. The only thing that had kept him from being seriously angry was the fact that she was his friend. It was only now that they knew the basics of Nanoha's skills that Ranma was able push down the jealousy and work with the girl.

Really, Ranma had dedicated his life to training in the Martial Arts. Nanoha just picked up some magical doodad and all of the sudden she could do things that the boy had only dreamed of. Jealousy still flared it's ugly head at times, but Nanoha was just so determined. Her work ethic was something that had to be seen to believed, and to be honest sometimes Ranma felt just a little bit humbled. Just a little bit.

Nanoha's thoughts on the training were a bit different. She knew that she needed to get better. Ranma could pick apart everything she did, and when they actually sparred to get her used to her powers she was beaten down again and again. Sure she won sometimes, but Ranma didn't have Raising Heart. Heck, according to Yuno Ranma was actually keeping up with her with nothing but physical power, and sheer skill.

Whereas Ranma beat down jealousy and fanned his determination to catch up, Nanoha had focused. To her Ranma's determination was an inspiration, something that she hoped that she would be capable of in the future. She was willing to make the sacrifices to meet Ranma's approval. He was her friend, and it would be shameful if she didn't meet and match his determination.

Of course, poor Yuno off to the side just looked on the two with something bordering awe. There was determination, and there was impossibilities. He thought it was impossible for a girl Nanoha's age to match a fully trained mage. Nanoha was capable of that. It should have been impossible for someone with near no magical power, and no training to keep up with Nanoha's progression, but Ranma was matching the girl inch for inch, and power by power.

Really, the ferret was just feeling really inadequate between these two.

Thwack.

Ranma panted as his fist impacted against the shield one last time. Letting his arm rest at his side the boy took a few steps back and took a deep breath. Finally he smiled at the panting Nanoha who had also relaxed.

"Heh." The boy chuckled slightly and sat down against a nearby tree. "I think that's enough."

"Whew!" Nanoha smiled and twirled her staff causing it to shrink and disappear into the small red gem that was it's natural state. "What should we work on next?"

"Didn't your friends want ta do something?" Ranma asked from his place against the tree. "Really, blondie and purplie should get some Nanoha time too."

Nanoha giggled briefly then sobered. Looking up at the sky with a slightly melancholy expression she sighed deeply. "I want to gather the jewel seeds, and to do that I need to get stronger. Not for Yuno, not just for me, but so that no one else gets hurt. To do that I have to get stronger. My friends would understand that."

Ranma's face twitched slightly before he sighed as well. They had a few of the jewel seeds now, but the things had a nasty tendency to endanger other people. Nanoha was taking it harder than Ranma was. "You can't train all the time Nanoha. 'Sides, if we push anymore right now we might break something." Here the boy stuck out his tongue at the girl. "That means less time training."

Nanoha giggled at Ranma. "All right then! I will go visit my friends and then come back!"

"Yeah yeah." Ranma waved his hand and took a deep breath.

"Come on Yuno!" Nanoha began to run off. "Suzuka has lots of kittens I want to play with."

"Ah! Ok!" Yuno rushed from his place at the sidelines to Nanoha's shoulder.

"Whew!" Ranma muttered to himself as he slumped down even more into a sprawl. "Nanoha is scary." He would never have believed that a girl could match him like that.  


* * *

Ranma couldn't tell you the time when he had begun to sleep. Sometime after Nanoha had left to see her friend for sure, but anything close to a definite time was beyond him. This didn't really matter much to him though, the park in which the two had trained was well lit, and the sun was warm, The trees were waving, and the ground felt oddly comfortable. That didn't keep him from startling awake at Nanoha's mental call.

_ "Ranma!" _ The boy in question sat up sharply as her voice resounded in his head. _"There is a jewel seed here!"_

_ "Right! On my way!" _Ranma leapt to his feet and began to sprint towards where he knew Nanoha was.

It wasn't that hard actually, Nanoha's friend owned one of the two biggest landscapes in the area. Considering this was Japan, this was actually a very big deal, landscape was typically measured in feet, not in acres like Suzuka's home was. It also had some of the best places to ambush people, much to Ranma's regret. Genma had enjoyed 'teaching' his boy some stealth and combat techniques all along the house grounds.  
On foot the typical person would take around an hour or more to get there from where Ranma had been napping. Driving it would take fifteen or twenty minutes depending on traffic. Those people weren't able to leap onto single story buildings and run faster than some people could bicycle.

Ranma, sprinting as he was, would probably make the trip in around five minutes. The scenery blurred by, and the few people that spotted him thought him a figure of their imagination the way he moved, up over fences and around cars and buildings like they weren't there. The boy barely registered the estate's steel grate, just seeing another obstacle to leap over.

One bounding leap brought him into the estate, and into the tree line. There Ranma stopped for a moment, forcibly taking control of his breathing and heart rate. Just as the boy was about to run off again in the direction he hoped Nanoha was, an explosion rocked the area.

"Well.. I guess that there is where Nanoha is," Ranma sighed loudly to himself as he ran again. "The things she can do scare me sometimes."

"Wait.." The boy paused as he looked into the air and then tried to go even faster. [i] "Yuno! What is going on!?" [/i]

Up in the air, a small figure drifted almost serenely down towards the ground, gradually picking up speed. At first glance it didn't seem like much, but Ranma had recognized the figure. The explosion earlier had apparently been directed at Nanoha, since Ranma was pretty sure that the girl needed those really girly pink wings on her feet to fly. The girl picked up speed as she fell to the ground, but there was no real sound of impact when she finally hit the ground.

Sprinting through the last set of bushes revealed Nanoha unconscious on the ground. Yuno was next to her, and looked worried at her, but perked up when he spotted Ranma. "Ranma!" the ferret shouted as he ran to the boy's side. "Another mage showed up and attacked her. She want's the jewel seed."

Wincing as he looked over the girl Ranma growled slightly to himself, and the cringed as the massive yowl of a cat in pain resounded in the air. When the cry stopped the boy looked visible shaken. "She's a c-c-at?"

"Cat?" Yuno looked confused for a moment before he realized what Ranma was asking. "No, that's the kitten that got the jewel seed."

"A kitten got a jewel seed." Ranma just shook his head at the thought before visibly stealing himself. "Eh, it doesn't matter. I promised I would help." Ranma took a deep shuddering breath and sprinted off again. "Take care of Nanoha all right?"

"Yes. Of course," the ferret replied as he looked over Nanoha. "Be careful Ranma," Yuno's caution went unheard.

Around the trees, and through the bushes Ranma ran. At his side his fist trembled, but he forced himself not to feel it. As he approached the clearing the boy slowed down, to a near walk, but he didn't stop. Only once he could see the entire battlefield did he stop and breathe a sigh of relief, seeing only a blond girl dressed in black holding up what looked like an axe into the air.

"Jewel seed NO I." The thing stated in a masculine voice. In response the girl lowered her weapon and began to float into the air.

The next thing she knew she was flying into a nearby tree, and that her side hurt. A small boy rushed her as she impacted the tree, and she thanked the natural defense the her barrier jacket gave her. She had gotten no sense of buildup for the amount of force she had been hit with. The girl winced as she impacted into the tree. For all intents and purposes, that attack had been invisible to a mage, and that scared her.

Ranma's fist impacted onto a bright yellow barrier as he attempted to follow up his initial kick. From sparring against Nanoha Ranma had picked up a few idea on how they fought. The big thing he was worried about wasn't the offense, but the defense. They had two styles of barrier he cared about. The one that was on all the time, and the one that they had to activate. With time and effort Ranma could break an active barrier, but it was far easier to smash a passive one. That didn't mean he couldn't break an active barrier.

"KYAAA!" the boy let out a terrifying yell as he began to push himself, striking at the shield as fast as he possibly could, and not giving the girl a chance to resist. He had a brief moment of pity at her terrified look, but he quashed it ruthlessly.

The sound was more akin to a machine gun than anything that might have come out of something human. The girl allowed herself a moment of terror at the sheer insanity of the boy's attack before her nature reasserted itself With a frown and a glare she forced her magic outwards into a far stronger barrier.

The battlefield lit up as Ranma continued his assault, every impact causing a bright flash of light. Despite herself the girl found her eyes widening as the fists impacted against the shield. This wasn't the normal barrier, every impact was getting reflected, and his strikes were still coming. Every impact hit the barrier in a loud crack, and for the brief moments that she could see the boy's fist she could spot the blood of broken skin. The scariest thing of it all was that there was no magic, nothing that would result in the sheer amount of force that she was experiencing.

"I can keep this up all day!" Ranma gritted out as he continued to attack the barrier.

"Perhaps." The girl swallowed and gripped her weapon. "Bardiche!" The barrier dropped, and for an instant Ranma was caught off balance and the girl's weapon was pointed right at him.

"Yes Sir!" Bardiche replied. A yellow blast shot forward and at Ranma.

Impossibly the boy managed to turn his stumble into a spin, missing the blast by inches and getting far to close for her comfort. His foot lashed out, and missed as the girl leapt into the air and through the tree branches She aimed downwards at the boy, already charging up another shot.

"Fire." she commanded her weapon, and a baseball sized blast hit the tree, causing an explosion that whitened the scenery with it's intensity.

The sudden downward force onto her back caught her by surprise, and the girl hit the ground with a loud thwack. A pair of steel like arms wrapped around her neck and began to squeeze. Despite the perilous situation the grip was almost gentle despite the sensitive spot, there was no pain, only a black mist encroaching against her awareness. Gritting her teeth the girl clutched her weapon franticly.

"Firing!" Bardiche responded to it's masters distress the only way it knew how.

The entire area lit up in another large explosion, knocking both children across the scenery. Ranma took the worst of it despite the proximity. Tumbling across the ground in a painful heap. As the smoke cleared he could make out the girl standing, but looking very scraped up.

"Your name?" she gasped out as the boy staggered to his feet.

"Ranma Saotome," he replied.

Even as he spoke the girl drifted into the air slowly then increasingly faster. "Fate Testarossa." With that she flew out of range, and away.

"Damn." Ranma cursed to himself as he fell to the ground in a heap. That last attack had seriously hurt him more than her.

* * *

"Nanoha? Are you there?!"

"Gurck!" Ranma jerked up from his place on the ground with a strangled cry of surprise and pain.

They boy had dozed off a moment after the girl had flown away. This was bad, he didn't have the energy to get up and out of here before they found both him and Nanoha. Considering the circumstances that Ranma was in, it was probably a good idea that he not be here. Now if the boy could just get his weak legs to cooperate.

"Foolish boy." A male voice came from the tree line of the clearing, and Ranma's father walked out from his position. "I track you down to see what is happening, and what do I see?" Genma sighed in exasperation before lifting up his son. "I suppose there is no help for it."

Ranma made a strangled sound of protest, but he was too beat up to properly object as he was thrown over his father's shoulder. The trees flew by and Ranma felt his vision turn to black as he passed out again.

* * *

It ended up being several days before both Ranma and Nanoha fully recovered. Ranma actually recovered far faster, but spent most of the remaining time being alternatively scolded and interrogated by his father. Nanoha's recovery was actually closely supervised by the man as well. He was intensely curious about the form of magic she and Yuno practiced, but kept it strangely low key until the girl was fully recovered.

Then the questions started, right before one of the many holidays began. This holiday was special to Nanoha and her friends. This was one of the days where they went to a very large hot spring and enjoyed themselves immensely.

Naturally Nanoha wanted Ranma to come. Her parents indulged her, and her girl friends tolerated it. The two were near joined at the hip at time anyway. It was when she spoke to Genma for permission that the man really began to question the girl.

"Now when were you going to let your parents know about all this magical girl business?" The man sighed as he adjusted the glasses.

"Umm.." Nanoha held her hands behind her back nervously as she looked at the large and imposing man.

Genma didn't look like much at first glance, but the man could seriously intimidate when he put his mind to it. Something about his stance and attitude was making the normally confident girl sweat and stammer, something that she had actually never done in her life before today. It wasn't that she didn't want to answer, but the normal replies and reasons seemed to have fled her mind upon impact with the man known as Genma.

"I don't know?" Nanoha replied finally.

Genma snorted and gestured for Nanoha to sit on the log that the campsite had as a seat. "Really girl, I could overlook it when you were dealing with things like dumb animals and massive trees, but now that some psychotic rival has appeared I should as a parent tell yours about your little antics."

Off to the side Ranma looked almost amused. He knew that near half of Genma talk was all bluster, but really he was just happy that someone else was taking the heat instead of him. Yuno in his lap looked less sure.

"She's not psychotic!" Nanoha stamped a small foot in protest, finally regaining her spine. "I just haven't gotten her to tell me what she needs the jewel seeds for."

"The girl attacked you, severely injured you both, 'cause two or three craters in the landscape and you are defending her?" Genma raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Pull the other one girl, that one might actually do something."

"I'm serious! She wasn't a bad person.. She just looked so sad." Nanoha went quiet as she thought back over the fight.

The burly martial artist harrumphed in disdain at the girl. "So you let her beat you up? Girl, I thought you had better sense than my blockhead boy over there!"

"Hey!" Ranma shook a fist. "Leave me out of it old man!"

"Such a beautiful girl, with such sad eyes." Nanoha looked into the air for a moment before turning startlingly sharp eyes onto Genma. "She and Ranma are almost the same, such beautiful people with lovely eyes that are almost terrifying in their intensity. I want to be their friends, both of them."

It was brief, but Genma felt himself startle slightly at the girl's look before he laughed quietly. "You are something else girl.. Nanoha." Here the man sighed and took a seat at his campsite. "I'll approve of this little outing of yours, and refrain from speaking with your parents until you are ready, but in exchange I get to supervise all the training you will be doing."

"Excuse me?" Nanoha blinked in confusion.

"Really then, taking advice from the magical talking rodent over there?" Genma gestured to the ferret off to the side. "I might not know everything there is to know about the fancy little magics you can do, but I know about how to train. You have been doing it on your own. That sounds like a great way to get yourself injured."

"Hey pops, me and Nanoha got it all under control!" Ranma finally interjected.

Genma just looked at his son with a serious look, and the boy found himself wilting rapidly. In Ranma's lap Yuno just looked slightly unsettled, and that increased as Genma looked at him as well.

_"Why is he looking at me too?"_ The ferret hadn't felt this uneasy since the first jewel seed had been loose.

"I will be sure that you are all properly trained before this entire incident is over with." Genma adjusted his suddenly gleaming glasses. "You can count on it."  


* * *

"Your father is kinda scary," Nanoha murmured to Ranma from her place in the car.

"Eh, you get used to it," Ranma replied from his place at the window.

It was his first time in a car actually, and the boy was getting a little claustrophobic. Genma had always had them walk or hitch a train ride. It was a nice car at least, large and spacious as far as cars went, even with the ferret, Nanoha, and her two friends crowding the back of it. Of course Ranma wasn't exactly familiar with cars, so identifying a limo was a bit beyond him. To him it was just a really big and nice car. With food.

"Hmph, why did you have to bring the boy," the blond friend snarled out the last word to Nanoha.

"You have been spending all your free time with him nowadays," the purple haired one continued. "We hardly see you out of school."

"Yeah," the blond one continued where her friend let off deflating as quickly as she had puffed up in anger.

Nanoha grimaced for a moment before reaching out to her blond friend apologetically and hugging them tightly. "I didn't mean to hurt you all. You are my best friends, and I could never forget you. Everyone in this car is my friend, my dear dear friends."

Ranma looked up from his crackers with a slightly curious expression on his face. Absently handing Yuno one the boy just shrugged and bit into another of the crackers he had found. All this mushy stuff went right over his head.

_ "Hey Yuno, did you catch that last bit?"_ The boy sent to the ferret at his side.

_ "Umm.." _The ferret was about to answer. _"URK! "_ Anything he might have said was cut off as the ferret was lifted up and hugged and shaken by the excitable blond friend.

Ranma just shrugged and rooted through the limo's side compartments. They had quite a few interesting items in here. The bottle of red stuff looked interesting too. The boy dragged out the bottle with a small grin and pulled at the top for a moment. The bottle opened with a loud pop, startling the girls.

"Where did you get the bottle?" Nanoha blinked curiously at the fizz coming out of it.

Ranma shrugged and sniffed at the bottle. "Dunno, but it smells good."

"You and your stomach." Nanoha sighed in mock exasperation. "Let us have some."

"Sure, gotta find some glasses." Ranma rooted around the car and pulled out a few glass objects. "There we go!"

"Umm." The purple haired girl looked at the bottle with a wary expression.

"Don't worry about it, they said feel free to help ourselves!" The blond haired girl stated with certainty. "Besides I am thirsty."

* * *

"Who forgot about the bottle of wine in the limo?" Nanoha's brother asked with a groan as he covered his face with his hand.

"I don't know, but they do make pretty cute drunks." Nanoha's mother replied with a giggle. "Does someone have a camera? We have to have pictures of this."

"Here ma'am." One of the servants that normally accompanied one of Nanoha's friends replied with a small grin.

Click! The camera shutter went off.

Needless to say, Ranma and Nanoha would never ever live the pictures down. Ever.

* * *

_ He was horrifying in a way. _

The red haired woman walked through the hallway with a small arrogant smile on her face. These hot springs were an absolutely grand way to spend a day. The place was expensive as hell, and full of various rich patrons, but the sheer amount of catering made it all worth it. It was probably a good thing that she wasn't paying for it, and was just here to scope out a few people.

_ The girl was perhaps worse. I beat her first, but the way that she looked at me.. _

"Ahhh! There is one!" The woman said softly to herself as she watched to boy grumble softly as he held the ferret.

"Ya know, you should be really grateful." His voice was soft as he muttered to the rodent in his grip. "Those girls can be merciless, and if they got you into the bath who know what woulda happened."

_ He was precise, and utterly silent in his lethality. _

"It's like there is no magical power whatsoever in this one." The woman frowned as she examined the boy.

"Ya know lady staring is kinda rude." The boy glared at the woman. "What are ya doing here anyway, this is the entrance to the boy's side."

The woman giggled at the boy and patted him on the head condescendingly. "You are a bit too young to know why a girl would be at the boy's side."

_ I could defeat him now that I know what I am dealing with.. If I could detect him. _

"Perv." The boy snorted and clutched his head in pain as the woman walked away.

"Arrogant little brat." the woman muttered to herself as she walked down the hallway once more. "Now for the other one."

_ The girl though, I worry more about. _

"This is the one that she was talking about?" The woman leaned forward right into the girl's face.

"Who is this?" One of the other girls in the hallway asked as the initial girl leaned back.

"Do you know her Nanoha?" Another questioned.

"No!" Nanoha shook her head and stepped back from the strange woman.

"Not too strong or smart looking." The woman sighed in exasperation. "Ah well, can't win them all. Sorry brats, thought she was someone else."

_ I need you to do this for me, I am sorry to ask this of you. _

With nary a goodbye the woman sauntered into the girl's side of the bath with a small sigh. Stepping into the hot water she leaned back with a small sigh. These hot springs were spacious as well as absolutely magnificent to rest in.

"Don't worry Fate."

_ The girl, if she manages to learn enough is the real threat. The boy can be neutralized, at least temporarily. For her, and only for her, I will do whatever it takes. I am sorry to ask this of you Arf. I only hope that this will serve to warn them off. _  


* * *

"Heh, I never imagined that this would happen when you tackled me like that," Ranma muttered softly as he looked up at the stars.

"Hmm? The hot springs?" Nanoha questioned sleepily in reply.

The three of them were cooling down after a long day. It was nighttime and the clouds drifted across the sky in swaths of black and starry background. The hot spring's sleeping area had a rather spacious porch that the two children and one ferret were lazing on. Nanoha was laying on her back as she looked at the sky, Yuno curled up on her stomach. Right next to her, sitting on the ground instead of on the porch as Nanoha was Ranma.

"The whole magical girl thing," Ranma chuckled in remembrance. "Seriously, I never got my but kicked as thoroughly as you manage to do. Sometimes."

"You are both extraordinary," Yuno sighed in half exasperation half awe. "When I see what you two are capable of I realize what the people back at my tribe thought of me."

"Hmm? What do you mean Yuno?" Nanoha looked at the rodent on her stomach.

"I advanced quickly in my area of study. Nothing like you two of course, but it is enough to realize how uncomfortable it made some people." Nanoha looked a bit perplexed, but Ranma nodded in sympathy.

"Yeah. I got that a lot when I was at other dojos." The boy shrugged in dismissal. "I'm just that good though, it's nice to meet a few people who are too." Ranma snickered at that thought. "Though one of them IS more a big rat than anything else."

"Humph." Yuno made a noise of exasperation.

"Am I really that different?" Nanoha asked almost sadly as she turned over to look at Ranma, dislodging Yuno.

"Never met a magical girl before, but I don't care really. You two are my bestest buddies." Ranma gave a crooked smile at his audience.

"Honestly Nanoha?" Yuno sighed and gave a ferret equivalent of a shrug. "You break everything I have ever learned about magical advancement. Your power is something that you hear about through legends not in real life."

"Lady Nanoha! The legend of Nanoha!" Ranma outright laughed at the two, breaking the solemn mood. "Nanoha the great, Nanoha the terrible!"

The girl in question's eyebrow twitched slightly and she tackled the boy. With a small smile she began trying to tickle the boy. "What would you be then? The Magnificent Ranma?"

"Of hehe course! Hahaha!" Ranma got out between laughs.

Yuno just sighed as the two tumbled around on the ground and shook his head. His eyes widened though when a pair of hands grabbed him.

"Yuno the magical sidekick!" Ranma proclaimed triumphantly as he held the ferret up in the air. At his feet Nanoha mock swooned.

Yuno looked un-amused.

They played a little bit longer before deciding to go to bed. Yuno had meant to breach taking back responsibility for the jewel seeds, but somehow the idea had never come up. However in the end he supposed it didn't matter. Ranma and Nanoha were determined, dedicated, and probably most importantly, good people. They wouldn't have allowed it anyway.

* * *

"Here is the place." The blond haired girl in black clothing stated. "The Jewel Seed is activating here."

Water flowed gently in a small river here, at the near center of the wilderness that was this region of Japan. The hot springs were after all centered in a very remote place. Part of it was the fact that nearly everywhere was mountainous terrain, but the other part was the hot springs were a very popular natural resort for the wealthy. Thus almost the entire place was untouched wilderness of a forgotten age.

This made it perfect to provoke a confrontation, and the jewel seed became the perfect bait. Fate would defeat the two soundly here, and be able to continue collecting the jewel seeds in peace.

"Ehm, it's rather pretty when it is active like that." The woman, Arf commented as the jewel seed activated in a bright pillar of magical light. "There is a lot of power in these tiny things. I wonder why that woman wants them."

She looked different that she had at the hot springs. Where before she looked human, now she had large furry ears and a tail, both the same color of her hair. She was dressed in an off orange color and white. Cleary she wasn't as human as she had seemed at first glance.

"Why mother wants them is irrelevant," Fate replied as she activated her weapon. "Bardiche."

"Sir!" There was a flash of yellow light and the clank of metal aligning.

"Jewel seed seal." Fate intoned as she pointed the intelligent device at the pillar of light. A bright beam of yellow lanced out and impacted the pillar with a hiss of displaced air.

At Fate's side Arf's ear twitched and the girl turned with a small fanged grin. "Not this time boyo."

The woman turned and howled at the surrounding area. At first it looked as if nothing had happened, but very quickly a boy tumbled in, bound in magical chains and struggling madly with a furious glare on his face.

"Sorry little man," Arf giggled at the boy's murderous expression. "We can't have you interfering in this."

"Ranma!" A girl's voice came from the tree line as Nanoha jogged in, dressed in her white battle outfit and wielding Raging Heart. A small ferret rode on her head.

"You shouldn't have come here," Fate sighed as she finished collecting the jewel seed. "I am here for the jewel seeds, and nothing else."

"But why? They are dangerous!" Nanoha replied as she got in front of Ranma. "We have to collect them and seal them all, what do you want with them?" Unnoticed by half the people, Yuno hopped off her head and next to Ranma.

"Don't know, don't care." Arf grinned from her position. "Be a good little girl and go home with your boyfriend."

"GRAHH!" Ranma growled from behind Nanoha has he finally managed to break the magical chains surrounding him with Yuno's help. "You are gonna pay for that one perv."

"What a rude little boy." The woman sighed and began to growl as she exerted her power. Her hair flared and a sigil flashed. Where there was once a woman there was now something akin to a monstrous wolf. "Rude little boys deserve a spanking."

"Thank you Arf." Fate's voice was soft as she clutched her weapon and looked at Nanoha. The plan was for Arf to keep the boy occupied while she dealt with the girl.

"Ya know, I think the dog is better lookin in this form." Ranma stated loudly as he smirked at the two. "You can take care of Fate, Nanoha?"

"Yes." Nanoha nodded and pointed Raging Heart towards her opponents.

With that statement the ground beneath Ranma began to light up in a complex magical glyph. The entire field lit up in a bright flash of light as Arf charged, and then Ranma Yuno, and Arf disappeared. Fate smiled almost sadly as she looked at Nanoha.

"So you have a familiar as well. It doesn't matter though." The blond haired girl lifted up Bardiche and pointed at the girl clad in white. "Your jewel seeds. I need them."

"Please, can't we settle this without fighting?" Nanoha requested with a sad look at the girl. "I am sure that we could come to an agreement about it, if I could just hear why you need them."

"My reasons are my own." Fate replied as she crouched down and disappeared.

Nanoha gulped as she pulled up her staff and leaned back. Where he body once was a glowing yellow blade swept into the ground, digging into it with no resistance. Bardiche's form had shifted slightly into a deadly looking scythe, and fate wasted no time trying to cut out Nanoha's legs from under her.

"Flyer Fin." Raging Heart chimed, and a pair of pink wings appeared on Nanoha's feet, throwing her into the air.

Off into the forest, far away enough that neither party could get to Fate and Nanoha's battle, Arf and Ranma fought. Their fight was far less straight forward.

A tree exploded as Arf tore into it. "Get back here you little midget!"

"Yeah right." Ranma called out as he leapt into another tree trunk. Using the trunk as a springboard the boy catapulted into Arf's barrier.

The field lit up in a bright flash of light, and Arf was forced to dodge to the side as a bright mass of chains erupted from her former position. "Damnit.. I can't deal with two of you."

Yuno scampered up from his hiding spot and onto Ranma's shoulder. "You can't win. Just tell us why you want the Lost Logia."

"You think I will tell you anything?!" Arf roared and flared with magical power. In reply Ranma crouched down and smirked as Yuno created a barrier of magic.

Up in the air Fate and Nanoha's battle continued with Fate pursuing Nanoha relentlessly. They shifted and blurred out of sight. Fate's scythe impacting with a blast of magical power onto Nanoha's barrier, and Nanoha blurring away to get some distance for her better attacks.

"Thunder Crasher." Bardiche stated as a ball of magical power gathered at it's tip. Fate intended to prove that Nanoha had no defense at range.

"Divine Buster." Raging Heart chimed as it gather power from Nanoha.

Both devices blasted at each other in a terrific display of power. The sky lit up like it was noon, and the beams of pure power seemed to be equal. Then Nanoha forced more power into her attack, and the previously bright sky went supernova. Pink light dominated everything for one instant, and the sphere of power dominated the sky.

On the ground Arf snarled as she looked up into the sky. The ground next to her was cratered, and she was panting slowly. "The girl brat is pretty strong."

"Heh, I don't got weak friends," Ranma chuckled in reply as he paused from his place across the clearing. The ground was suspiciously clear in a circle around him, Yuno's barrier having proven to be the greater of the two.

"Give up Arf," Yuno stated seriously.

"Why, when Fate has already won?" Arf giggled in return.  
Nanoha's beam finished crushing Fate's and shot forward through the explosion with terrific speed into the still floating girl. The apparent hit almost undid the battle right there. Fate had used the cover of the beam's light to shift right above the white clad girl. Bardiche's scythe swept downwards as the girl swooped down, bat like.

Closer, and closer it swept in, angling right for Nanoha's neck, until it impacted against Raging Heart with a loud metal clang. The two devices sparked as their respective users poured magic into reinforcing themselves. Nanoha grit her teeth as she looked at Fate, that last attack had nearly won, and it was only Ranma constant admonishments not to flinch that she had gotten this far.

The black clad girl's expression didn't change as she struggled. Nanoha was good, but sadly..

Fate reversed the momentum, pulling out and down, dragging Raging Heart out. Nanoha had some training, but Fate's skills in close combat were simply better. Bardiche swept into the opening, impacting against Nanoha's barrier jacket with terrific magically enhanced force.

Everything seemed to freeze as Nanoha gasped and hunched forward from the brutal blow. The scythe tip rested across her throat in clear warning.

"Do not come after the jewel seeds again, Nanoha," Fate stated sadly. "Next time, I won't hold back."

The white clad girl gulped as they both drifted downwards. "Please Fate, just tell me why."

Fate sighed and turned around, dissipating the sharpened energy. "No." The girl began to walk away almost nonchalantly. "Come Arf. Next time we meet, I will want the seeds you have as well."

"Bye Bye!" The dog shifted smoothly into a human and began to float away.

"Nanoha!" Yuno's voice came from the tree line as Ranma and the ferret bounded into the clearing. "Are you ok?"

"Yes." Nanoha reached down and picked up her staff. "Next time, we will win."

"Ha." Ranma gave a short bark of laughter. "Ya mean next time you will win, we were winning just fine over there."

Nanoha giggled slightly. "I guess I am not extraordinary enough."

"Nah, we can't all be as good as me, the world would be boring," Ranma replied with a straight face, placing his hands behind his head and whistling innocently.

Nanoha just smiled.  


* * *

"Ya know Nanoha, if I didn't love ya so much I would think you were absolutely insane." Ranma commented from the ground.

Nanoha's voice was calm as she looked up into the sky from her place next to the boy. "Because I think that Fate is worth listening to?"

"Because you try to talk with someone who is attacking you." The boy clad in the dirty gi replied with a small smirk. "The girl almost took your head off and you still defend her."

"I don't notice you too mad at her," Nanoha pointed out calmly.

Ranma snorted in amusement. "Eh, she's just a girl, not as if she can actually hurt me."

The little girl giggled at the boy. "You know she would blow you up."

"True," Ranma laughed quietly in response. "That's why I don't try to talk with her when she attacks."

"Hehe." The white clad girl laughed a bit more before sighing. "Can you move yet Ranma?"

"Nope."

Off to the side both Genma and Yuno just looked incredulously at the two pint sized children. If Yuno hadn't been practicing his barriers while the two went at it the entire forest would have been demolished. Genma knew his son was capable of some truly terrifying feats, but Nanoha put the boy to shame. Probably the most amusing, or maybe frightening thing was the aftereffects. The two were acting like they had gone for a stroll.

"I usually push the boy hard, but I don't think I have ever seen him willingly run himself to the ground like that." Genma finally commented in almost pure awe. "Here I thought the girl would slow his training, instead.." The man sighed and shook his head. "I find myself actually restraining the two."

"Yes.." Yuno looked at the two and shook his head in fond exasperation. "I have given up trying to define Nanoha's progress with what I have learned, she just progresses too fast."

Genma snorted slightly. "It's the fancy Ki focus she has there. She has almost no battle instincts, poor close combat skills, and is sloppy in the air right now. The only thing that is improving rapidly is her flight."

"Her progress has been astonishing! It's taken her maybe a tenth of the time it takes an average mage to get to where she has gotten to! And quit calling it Ki!" Yuno snapped back at Genma slightly irritated.

Raising an eyebrow Genma turned to the furry rodent. "Of course her progress has been astonishing, you slipped her what amounts to a loaded gun and her use what amounts to her body as bullets! The only thing that is astonishing about this is her responsibility about training to use it. Hell, you have barely taught her the basics of that bastardized version of Ki you call magic!"

"Nanoha has done everything of her own free will, and Raging Heart is nothing like those primitive and dangerous guns that you have here, in fact it will handle half the basics until she has learned enough to stand on her own." The ferret bared his teeth slightly as he bristled. "And it's not KI!"

"It's called Ki you furry little rodent." Genma growled.

"Magic!"

"Ki!"

Nanoha and Ranma just sighed as the two began to argue again. Yuno and Genma apparently did not get along period.


	3. Chapter 3

Night time. The time for sleep. The time to rest and reflect. In modern day cities this tradition is no longer followed, but the tradition has been engraved in the human soul. The city was lit up, but the only ones awake were those that had a purpose, or the ones who were looking for it.

Atop a building stood Fate, dressed in her standard mage suit, skin tight and ebony black with the red highlights and belts and buckles. Her cloak billowed in the turbulent wind, and at her side in wolf form stood Arf. The girl looked sad even here, a soft, almost tragic smile on her face. For a long time she just stood and looked out over the horizon as the night grew deeper. Then with a clank of metal scraping on metal she raised Bardiche.

The surrounding area began to lose color in an ever expanding wave, the sounds of the normal city activity began to quiet. With a flourish of Bardiche Fate completed the spell, and the entire city was silent. The dimensional barrier kept the affects of a mage's spells and attacks from effecting the real world. The city was eerily silent now, and perfect for Fate's purposes.

A magical sigil appeared under Fate, and the sky began to cloud as she began her second spell. At her side Arf kept a look out along the skyline for interference as the clouds began to roll in, darkening the starlit sky. Then with a thunderous crash the sky opened up with lightning and a pouring rain. The lightning crashed down repeatedly, into street lights, across buildings and finally smashing down into a single section of street. There the lightning hit something, and the entire block lit up in magical energy.

"There!" Arf howled out and dashed off towards the source. The jewel seed had been revealed.

The small innocent looking jewel rose into the air drawn by Fate's weather manipulation, and Fate flew at her top speed to it. For awhile she believed that she might be able to gather it without interference, but a flash of white convinced her otherwise.

"Divine Buster!" The cry came from the side, and Fate twisted her body, forcing herself to accelerate out of the reach of the massive blast of pink energy.

There, in the air she paused, looking at the white clad and floating Nanoha. Fate sighed bitterly as she looked at the resolve in the girl's face. "Did you not learn your lesson last time?"

"Sorry, I am a little bit stubborn" the white clad girl smiled slightly as she replied. "I can't let you gather the jewel seeds until you give me the reason you want to."

Bardiche clanked as Fate frowned and swept it back in preparation. She didn't want to get into a battle with words, something in her refused to allow that concession. Perhaps it was simply frustration, but a deeper part of her was afraid that if she stopped and talked she would lose all resolve.

"Gahh, you filth rodent!" Off to the side Arf snarled at Yuno. "And here I thought the boy was doing all of that!"

Fate winced slightly as Arf flew after the smaller creature. She would have to finish this quickly before the boy made an appearance. With that thought she aimed Bardiche at Nanoha and gathered her power.

Not to be deterred Nanoha repositioned Raging Heart and aimed her attack again. "Please!" The device flared with power.

The beams shot clashed and lit up the night sky in a brilliant display of energy. Nanoha's beam was again the greater of the two, and the pink blast shot through Bardiche's attack with little effort.

Fate knew Nanoha's greater power in this field though, and had counted on the flash to conceal her efforts to gather the jewel seed, still floating in the air. She zoomed forward, and came within a handbreadth before her device was stopped with a resounding clang.

A part of Fate's mind noted that Nanoha's speed was starting to catch up, but the other part was growling in irritation. Their weapons clanked again as Fate swung her weapon at Nanoha, and the white clad girl quickly drifted backwards, out of Fate's superior melee range. Raging Heart flared again.

"Photon Lancer." Bardiche was quicker, sending off several small blasts of yellow energy.

Nanoha dispersed the energy she had gathered and held out a hand as she floated backwards still. The blasts of yellow shot forward like bullets and impacted her shield with a series of small explosions, knocking the girl back further.

Fate didn't stop to let Nanoha recover, turning around and aiming at the place where the Jewel Seed was. Bardiche shifting in preparation. Fate's power flared, and stopped as she realized that the jewel seed had been moved. Her eyes scanned the area frantically, and the set upon a grinning small boy. He flashed the jewel in his hand before dashing off with a large smirk.

"Divine Shooter."

Too late Fate realized that she had taken her attention off of Nanoha too long. The blasts impacted into her unprotected back with terrific force, sending her into a nearby building. Her next glimpse was of Nanoha's determined look, and another attack gathering up.

Despite herself Fate felt a thrill of fear.

"Fate!" Arf, ever loyal Arf had noticed the gathering attack and had abandoned her combat with Yuno. With a growl she disrupted the attack that Nanoha had been building.

Unfortunately that had given Yuno the perfect opening, and a series of chains leapt out from beneath the wolf and bound her snarling form. The familiar crashed to the floor.

Fate winced at her actions, but fled. The jewel seed had priority, and if she could just find the boy and grab the seed she could then work on freeing Arf. Using the distraction she sped away, after Ranma.

* * *

_ "She's after you!" _ Nanoha's mental voice resounded inside Ranma head.

"Figures," Ranma muttered to himself as he leapt from a parked car and into an empty building.

Really this entire dimensional shift spell still disturbed him. Sure it was useful, but everything was so quiet. The boy twitched every now and again as his mind made phantom sounds to fill the silence. Since everything was so quiet that made it possible for him to detect a few things he wouldn't normally. Like the soft patter of his feet, and the crackle of Fate's lightning based magic.

Ranma winced as he leapt back into another empty room. In the place where he had just been a bright beam of yellow ripped through the room. A few office papers fluttered into the air from the force, and Ranma caught a glimpse of Fate's displeased frown before the girl disappeared again.

The girl appeared behind him, Bardiche poised for a downward slash, energy scythe crackling angrily. Ranma felt his face crease into a smile as the girl slashed downwards. With almost impossible flexibility the boy leaned to the side and kicked at the girl. A loud clank resounded as Fate blocked and was pushed back from the terrifying amount of force that the boy could put into his strikes.

The axe like device Fate carried clanked as it shifted, and Fate pointed it at Ranma. Ranma snorted slightly as he charged.

There was a reason he had gone into a building. The place was tight and cramped compared to the street outside, and gave him almost perfect places to ambush anyone attacking. Here Fate's flight was irrelevant, and unless the girl wanted to bring the house down she couldn't just blast Ranma into submission.

Magic flared as Fate tried to get enough room to blast Ranma, but the boy was having none of it. Back and forth they went until the girl finally managed to get out of the building again. Ranma snarled slightly as he heard the telltale crackle of a large magical attack.

Ranma blinked as he saw the entire outside light up. Not good. She was going to bring the house down instead.

A titanic blast shook the city block, and distantly Ranma heard Nanoha's worried cry.

"I'm fine." Ranma said and sent at the same time. He chuckled to himself as he snuck into another public building. All he had to do was delay enough to get Fate captured now, and they were all set. The sound of an explosion outside meant that Nanoha had found Fate, and now all he had to do was relax.

With a sigh Ranma sat down on one of the couches in the area, still chuckling slightly. Nanoha was sure giving Fate hell. The boy tossed the jewel seed into the air and caught it, and twitched. His gaze darted around the room in sudden fear.

The boy twitched as he heard the cry of a cat. "What the." The cat's cry grew louder. "Huh?" In his hand the jewel seed began to pulse.

Outside, a loud scream cause both Fate and Nanoha to stop fighting. For a moment the very air itself grew still, and another scream resounded, an insane laugh followed, and then a final horrendous scream, like a damned soul being devoured whole.

"Ranma?" Nanoha's call went unheeded. "Ranma!"

Fate's face went pale as a surge of magic swept across the city. Something was wrong.  


* * *

Another person might have been afraid, another person might have been cautious. Nanoha was neither of these things. Though the scream had been unrecognizable, she knew that had been Ranma, and that the boy needed help. For Nanoha protecting had never been a choice, never been a conscious decision. She protected people like other people breathed.

So with nary a thought to the previous battle with Fate the girl sped off, blurring out of sight in her haste. Fate was left looking almost confused, and just the slightest bit fearful as she floated there. Ranma was an enemy, and she shouldn't feel worried, but Jewel Seeds were unpredictable, and the sheer amount of power that had been radiated was just the tiny bit scary.

Fate looked at Bardiche, and seriously thought about just flying off.

"Sir?" The device chimed in question.

Finally the blond girl sighed deeply and clutched her weapon tightly. With a flash of magic and a blur of speed Fate followed Nanoha. Later if asked Fate would reply that she had needed the jewel seed. Or maybe that she couldn't have an obviously powerful opponent at her back.

The real reason was a bit simpler. Fate, Nanoha, and Ranma might have had different motivations, and different powers, and different forms, but in the end they had one very big similarity. They couldn't leave people in pain.

* * *

"Ranma?" Nanoha set down on the ground and looked around the shattered and shredded lobby.

It looked like a whirlwind with razor blades had flowed through the place. The formerly cushioned seats were sliced and the stuffing was everywhere, the desks were shredded into kindling, and there were several large slashes on the sides of the walls. Of Ranma there was no sign.

Nanoha gulped slightly as she looked around. "Ranma? Where are you?"

"I can't sense him." Fate touched down next to Nanoha with a frown. "Not that I can normally, but the Jewel Seed sent out a massive pulse earlier."

Nanoha frowned slightly at the information before smiling at Fate. "Thank you for coming, I am glad that you are here to help Fate."

The blond haired girl blushed and looked away. "Don't get me wrong, I need the Jewel Seed still."

Nanoha just smiled warmly at the other girl. Then she clutched Raising Heart close to her and began to look around. It looked like nothing was there at first, but then she started to notice a pattern to the destruction of the room. It seemed to lead further into the building.

"That way." Fate pointed out the path that Nanoha had just noticed.

"Yes."

The two took only a step towards the other room when they heard the soft creak of the floor and a black and shadowy creature stepped out of the room. It looked like a cat, then it looked like a boy, then it looked like a thousand creatures at once in the vague shape of something four legged. It flowed unnaturally forward, and for a moment a thousand red eyes looked at Nanoha and Fate with something like hunger. Both girls paled from the unnatural terror being project and froze for a crucial second.

With a cry like a thousand damned souls the creature flowed forward, leaving small trails of black writhing shadows in it's wake. Like cornered animals both girls stood stock still, caught up in terror.

"Flier Fin!"

"Blitz Rush!"

It was fortunate that their devices had independent thought. With a push of magic both girls were pushing into the air and out of the massive predator's wake. The impact where they were was oddly quiet, until you noticed the shredded floor underneath it. With a loud cry of frustration the creature gathered itself and pushed upwards. The shadows that made it up erupted, and Ranma came out, eyes unnaturally red.

"Ranma?" Nanoha looked at the boy in confusion and no small amount of fear. The boy's eyes were blank except for the bright red glow.

With a hiss the boy pulled his arm back and aimed at Nanoha his hand blurred and Nanoha cringed as an invisible and impossibly sharp wave of magic came at her too fast to dodge. The impact was loud in contrast to the previous sounds. Nanoha blinked as she looked forward, it hadn't hit her.

"Don't hesitate, something went wrong with the Jewel Seed, and if you want him back we have to seal it." Fate's voice was almost nonchalant as she held the barrier in front of Nanoha.

"All right." Nanoha nodded at the other girl as she watched Ranma touch down on the ground.

The boy clutched his head in what looked like pain when he hit the ground, and the shadows whirled around him again. Instead of a boy there was once again a shadowy creature. One that looked hungrily at the two pint sized mages in the air.

Both girls looked back, no longer afraid, but determined. The clutched their respective devices and gathered magic. From up here the creature couldn't attack them easily. Both devices flared up with magical power.

On the ground the cat creature almost seemed to smirk, and flattened itself unnaturally into the ground. The shadows around it seemed to flow away, and it seemed to disappear into the night.

"Where is he?" Fate whispered as she kept her magic charge.

Nanoha shook her head in frustration. She couldn't tell where the thing had gone too. It was like it had just disappeared into the shadows. Like the shadows that flared into a dozen red eyes to the side of Fate. "There!"

The pink beam lanced into the building, severing it in half and causing it to begin to collapse in a massive and explosive fashion. The shadow creature, frustrated at being spotted leapt at Fate, missing the dodging girl and impacting into the side of a building.

Fate snarled and shot off a beam of her own, only to miss as the creature rebounded unnaturally fast and towards Nanoha. Another building was given a hole large enough to drive through, and Nanoha just barely dodged the slashing black shadows that the creature was.

The shadow trembled as it passed, and Nanoha couldn't dodge the flying missile that Ranma had become. The two impacted into the recently holed building, and the boy snarled at Nanoha. His bright red eyes flared and the shadows began to envelop him as he raised a clawed hand at the girl. Fate's timely intervention saved the white clad girl once more.

Bardiche was thrust around Ranma's neck in a choke hold and the blond haired girl grit her teeth as the shadows began to shred her uniform.

"Lightning!" Fate grit out a makeshift spell, forcing an effect through sheer force of will.

Nanoha watched in horror as both figures lit up in unnatural electricity and shadows. They both began to scream in pain and fury as the powers crashed together unnaturally. Unable to stand and watch Nanoha leapt forward herself and used Raising Heart as a conduit, pouring her magic into the two in a vain attempt to stop the catastrophic conflict of magic.

The entire block lit up in light and power. Worst out of them all was Ranma, the center of the magical barrage. The shadows didn't just disappear, they disintegrated. The power continued to come, and the lightning crackled, pink and gold and blue. It wasn't stopping, and in the boy's hand the Jewel Seed began to glow unnaturally hot.

Both devices crossed over Ranma's neck as the girls began to loose their grip from the continuing circuit. It wasn't stopping, and they couldn't stop it. Some part of Ranma's mind realized that all three of them were screaming. In his hand the Jewel Seed got brighter, and the boy brought it painfully up to his face. The lightning arced, and then the boy tore his teeth into his palm and spat the jewel seed away, sending lightning and fire everywhere.

Just like that the light show stopped, and they all slumped to the ground in pain.

Ranma and Nanoha last sight was that of Arf lifting up Fate and running as fast as possible, with the Jewel Seed.  


* * *

Morning came slowly. It was a cloudy and overcast day, and the sun seemed to struggle against the clouds as it rose slowly. Eventually it won, as it always had though, and the very first rays of light hit the side of the building.

Inside, on the floor lay Nanoha and Ranma, side by side and tucked into a pair of bedraggled bedrolls. The sunshine crept across the barren floor and slowly but surely inched up the little girl's face. She scrunched her face up in response and turned over, pulling the cover of the bedroll over her head with a sleepy whine. For a moment the room was quiet, then the strangeness of the position made it's way into Nanoha's head.

She snapped awake with a start, and looked wildly around. It was a tiny room, barren aside from a pair of backpacks to the side, and a sleeping Ranma beside the girl. Only now that she was up did Nanoha notice her manner of dress, and the pain. She lifted up a hand and winced as she looked at the neat bandages covering her arm, and half her body. The large tee shirt she was dressed in didn't hide the fact that she was almost completely covered in bandages.

Swallowing in sudden apprehension Nanoha scrambled to Ranma's side, lifting off the covers in an almost frantic need to know. What she saw made he gasp in shock.

The boy was completely unscarred. Nanoha's eyes went a bit wide as she held the cover up higher. It was like last night hadn't even happened to the boy. Nanoha's first thought was that it was almost unfair. Her second thought was guilt at thinking that, and her third thought was that she was glad that Ranma was all right.

"You know girl, I think you are a bit young to be checking out boys." The sudden voice made Nanoha start and drop the covers with an embarrassed gasp.

Genma chuckled as he came into the apartment, setting down a bag of some sort. Yuno leapt from his perch on the man's shoulder and scampered to Nanoha's side looking as worried as he possibly could as a ferret. With a small sigh the man sank to his knees and began taking out a few boxes from the bags.

Slowly and deliberately he began setting out several bowls and placing several scoops of something hot and delicious smelling on each. "Have some. Ranma probably wont be getting up quite yet."

"Umm." Nanoha looked at Yuno and at Genma with a slightly embarrassed look, unsettled by the way they were acting. Both males looked studious and unconcerned so she inched herself to a plate and picked up a pair of chopsticks. "Thank you."

"You are lucky girl." Genma sighed as Nanoha began to eat. "I don't know what you were doing, and I probably don't want to know. I may not be much of a parent, but I dislike seeing little girls look as badly injured as you were."

"Sorry, something bad." Nanoha paused and swallowed. Bad was an understatement of epic proportions. That had been like a nightmare come alive. "Something bad happened with the Jewel Seed."

"I could see that." Genma sighed and looked at the ferret. "Be glad that Yuno knows healing techniques, and had the foresight to call me." Here the man adjusted his glasses and glared. "This is strike two girl. I see something like this happen again I am taking away that magical death trap and informing your parents."

Genma loomed as he looked at the now cringing girl. "You are far too young to be pushing yourself like this. If you keep it up you will seriously stunt your growth and give you some serious issues later in life. Ranma knows a few way to compensate for pushing himself, but you however, don't."

Nanoha cringed and looked away from Genma, eyes watery. "I am sorry."

The man just shook his head and looked at his meal. "Listen girl, I do like you, and I think you are good for my son, but I also don't want to have another sin weighing me down. I have too many as it is."

"One of those sins is responsible for why Ranma was acting the way he was wasn't it?" Yuno had been quiet up until now, but he chimed in at this point. "A reaction like the one Ranma displayed shouldn't happen with someone who knows what a Jewel Seed can do."

"Both the boy and I have scars in making him what he is today." Genma got to his feet and walked to his pack. "There are a series of techniques involving healing, self mutilation, and self enhancement." Genma took out a series of small pamphlets and took out one of them. "This is one of the more gentle ones. It teaches how to change your apparent weight temporarily."

The man tossed Nanoha the booklet and the girl looked at it and flipped it open. Shortly thereafter she flipped it closed with a wince. "That looks scary, and painful." Yuno took the booklet next, flipping it open with furry paws.

"It's a very useful technique. Ranma uses it to reduce damage with his jumps among other things." Genma settled down next to his food again. "The thing is, finding a proper technique that might or might not work is trial and error." The man looked at Nanoha. "I have made mistakes girl. If you continue down this path you will too. Be careful and I wont have to end your pursuit of magic. Get injured one more time like that and I will be sure that you never practice again."

Nanoha gulped and looked down to her food. At her side Yuno set down the pamphlet with a shudder. "If that is a mild technique I can see how a Jewel Seed would react poorly. One of them left mental scars didn't they."

"Yes."

"Why aren't you stopping me right now if you are so worried?" Nanoha finally looked up at Genma again.

Genma adjusted his glasses and looked embarrassed. "Everyone has a dream." He looked away from the ferret and the girl. "I have my pride girl, but I also can understand another's determination. At some point death really is preferable. I would never take another's art away."

"But you would if I get injured again?" The girl looked at Genma with an almost soft smile.

"For a time. If you are determined enough, there is little I can do but delay you." Genma shrugged. "You would hate me, but I can live with that."

"Thank you." Nanoha's reply startled both Yuno and Genma. "I am glad you care."

* * *

Yuno sighed as he watched Nanoha and Genma walk out of the small apartment. It was surprising what the man was capable of. He had a lot of reckless idea, and asked far too many questions for comfort, but he was good at what he did. Nanoha respected his knowledge in training, and the girl was pacing herself far more than she had been before the man had taken control of the training.

Honestly the ferret was slightly jealous. Only slightly though. So long as Nanoha was able to keep herself alive and ready to finish this Yuno was content. For now though he needed to look over Ranma. Genma would be sure that Nanoha made it home safely. She had just been afflicted with some minor electrical burns and magical overload. It was dangerous, but ultimately the worst it could do was scar nastily or get infected.

Ranma however, had endured some rather nasty mental backlash from the Jewel Seed. He was fine physically, but Yuno wanted to be sure that the boy was all right mentally. This was actually a fair amount harder since you couldn't see it, or use magic to sense it. The most Yuno could do was simply be sure that there was no magical residue, and be there when the boy woke up.

The sigils flashed underneath the boy in an intricate pattern as Yuno went to work. It wasn't an exhausting spell, but it was a long and laborious spell. The sigils rotated and flashed for a fair amount of time as Yuno systematically went over the boy.

Naturally about halfway through Ranma woke up. The boy blinked at the ceiling in confusion for a moment, and then he realized the pattern underneath him. Yuno just barely realized what was happening in time to keep the boy from moving.

"Wait!"

Ranma froze and looked at the ferret. "What's going on?"

"I am just checking you over," Yuno replied with a ferret equivalent of a shrug. "What do you remember from last night?" He was trying to keep the boy calm in case something was wrong.

Ranma winced as he thought back. "I remember bits and pieces. It's kinda blurry at near the end tho'. What happened?"

Yuno's ears drooped a small amount as he took in the information. It was better than it could be, but it was still not the best result. "You had an adverse reaction to the Jewel Seed. You went into some sort of berserk state and Nanoha and Fate calmed you down."

"Berserk state?" Ranma blinked at the ferret in confusion. "How the heck did I go into a berserk state when I just touched the thing?"

"Some sorts of mental trauma can cause strange reactions in the Jewel Seeds." Yuno tried to keep it low key and clinical. No sense in telling the boy that he tried to hurt the girls. "I am just making sure that you are ok from it. you probably shouldn't handle the things anymore though."

"Mental Tram...." Ranma started to ask the question, but stopped and paled. He curled up into a ball and turned away from Yuno. The ferret's ears perked and he almost stopped his diagnostic, but a small voice from the boy stopped him. "Are Fate and Nanoha ok?"

"Don't worry!" Yuno replied quickly, waving his paws, finally losing concentration on the pattern. "They are both fine. You can ask Nanoha yourself."

"Really?" Ranma gulped and uncurled, sitting up and closing his eyes. Concentrating a moment on the telepathy that they had used Ranma attempted to send out. Nothing happened and he frowned. "I can't send."

"Uhmm." Yuno felt out his connection to Raging Heart. "Nanoha and Raging Heart are still there, I can send just fine." The ferret looked at the boy in consternation. "Try sending to me."

"I can't." Ranma's eyes snapped open. "What happened?!"

"Magical scarring?" Yuno sighed and looked at the boy. "I don't have the tools or the expertise to guess, but I know you can damage yourself if you get enough magic poured into you."

"I don't scar." Ranma clutched his head and tears formed in his eyes. "I can't, I made sure of that." The boy frowned and focused again, closing his eyes in concentration.

"Don't force it." The ferret frowned and looked at the only window in the room. "If I get Raging Heart I think I can at least rig something that could tell."

"Why am I tasting pink?" Ranma's eyes snapped open. "I can smell ozone too."

"I have no idea." Yuno looked at Ranma in confusion. "I don't smell ozone, and how can you taste pink?"

The boy just looked at the ferret in mutual confusion. "It's like a taste in the back of my mouth, I can't describe it as anything other than pink. Its like something I can half remember." Ranma closed his eyes and focused again. "I can just reach out and.." The boy trailed off.

"Ranma?" The ferret was worried now. "Is everything all right?"

"I can send to Nanoha," Ranma slumped back on his beadroll in relief. "I just have to do it differently."

Yuno just shook his head and said nothing. He had no clue what was going on, and he needed to research it, but had nothing to research with. Honestly this entire scenario was beyond him now. He could only hope that the boy would heal properly.

"Hey Yuno. I had an idea, do you think you could help me with it?" Ranma's voice startled the ferret out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I can try." Maybe this was something he could help with.

"I remember you doing something with movement magic, and I was thinking that I could do something with that." Ranma smiled at the ferret and flipped onto his stomach.

"Movement magic is pretty complex, but if you want.." Yuno trailed off and got ready to instruct Ranma.

Genma would return to find the two in a rather heated debate about the subject. The man just shook his head. The arrays and numbers they were drawing was beyond him, and looked to be quite beyond Ranma as well. The boy was trying though.  


* * *

Fate walked steadily and quietly down the massive hallway, Arf at her side. Clad as she was in her barrier jacket and somber air she looked more as if she was going to battle than going to visit her mother. The only indication that the girl was making a social call was the small box of candies in her hand.

Her mother's fortress was a vast winding structure hidden deep within the dimensional ether space. The winding empty steel and stone corridors were covered in sharp jagged edges, and there was the constant low background noise of energy sparking from place to place. Every now and again there was the faint sent of ozone, but the predominant smell was the thick oily smell of magical fuel and the magical equivalent of life support fluid.

As Fate stepped into the throne room she smiled slightly at her mother as she strode forward. A quick command made Arf wait at the doorway and the girl strode to the throne where her mother Precia waited. A brief flash of something bitter crossed the woman's face as she watched her small child approach, but it was gone in an instant.

"Welcome home Fate." The woman smiled wide and fake at her daughter. "I trust you have a suitable souvenir?"

"Mother." Fate bowed deeply and held out the small box of candies. It wasn't much, but to get anything in Tokyo without having actual money was near impossible. Everything she had was scrounged from the office building which her mother had commandeered for her and through Arf.

"I was talking of other souvenirs my dear." Precia set the box down on her throne and got to her feet.

Taking a step back Fate nodded and held out Bardiche. A soft clank signaled the device shifting at it's mistresses' command, and several bright and flashing jewel seeds flew into the air. The glittered in the air for a brief moment before a simple act of will drew them to Fate's mother.

The woman frowned at the few seeds that were in front of her. "You spent all that time and gathered so few? Please say this is a trick on your poor, ailing, mother."

Fate dropped to her knees in half supplication, half cringing reflex. "No mother. There was interference."

"Such a poor child." Precia sighed and moved forward to the kneeling Fate. "You have disappointed your mother. Such a disappointing display of magical aptitude. I thought you trained better than that."

Fate's head dropped as she near cringed at her mother. "I am sorry."

"It's all right child." Precia took a few steps backwards. "You will just have to do better now, wouldn't you?"

"Yes mother, I will." Fate got to her feet, head still bowed.

Precia smiled warmly now as he device appeared in one hand and shifted into a whip. "Of course dear daughter, I do have to punish you for your poor performance. You understand don't you? Bad little girls have to be properly.. Disciplined."

A pair of magical chains dropped down from the ceiling and wrapped around the now limp Fate. She was hoisted into the air with a sorrowful expression on her face as she watched her mother smile and lift the whip.

Arf ran out of the room and behind the door so that she didn't have to watch. The first strike impacted on the back of the tiny blond haired girl with a sickening meaty thwack. It was far from the last.  


* * *

Ramna frowned at the night sky as he looked up the massive building. Ever since he had woken up to a worried Yuno he had been plagued by the strange alteration to his senses. At first it had been consistent, if rather hard to define, but then the input shifted wildly, and he was forced to get used to an entirely new sensation.

So far he had tasted pink, smelled ozone, smelled cotton candy, felt like his entire body was surrounded by a static charge, dealt with the fact that he had been tasting yellow for a time, and a whole host of other near indescribable sensations. Quite frankly it was driving him crazy as he tried to decipher what was going on.

Eventually he had managed to narrow something down at least. He always felt two distinct sensations. One was the pink cotton candy. The other would be the yellow ozone. Once he had managed to define the senses they had actually settled down into a particular feeling.

Ranma was out this late because the ozone smell had sharpened somehow. Where before it had been very subdued, almost unnoticeable, now it was sharp and potent, thick in a way that it had never been. This let him follow what it was.

It had led him to this skyscraper, and somehow, Ranma knew that the source was in the top.

Shrugging to himself the boy began to vault up the side of the building. Often people didn't secure the upper areas that well, mostly 'cause not many people could causally scale a building like Ranma could. Every hop seemed to sharpen the scent of ozone. It never quite overwhelmed him, but the sensation was strange.

The most unusual thing about it was that he wasn't actually smelling it. It was like a feeling in the back of his head that somehow related to scent.

Finally the boy found a window open large enough for his small body to squeeze into, and he was inside, still making his way upwards and towards the sharp ozone smell.

Two floors from the top the boy paused and went unnaturally still. His blue eyes flashed as he looked around. Suddenly, and without warning he moved, and just barely dodged the growling woman's fist as it tore a body sized shaped in the floor from the impact.

"You bastard! I don't know how you found her, but keep away from FATE!" Arf screamed the last part as she charged forward savagely.

"GACK!" Ranma's eyes went wide at the unexpected ferocity. Something had seriously pissed off the familiar, and it wasn't him.

A wall behind him was rapidly smashed as the woman then proceeded to tramped through the walls and the rooms alike. In a way it was fortunate that the woman was furious, it made her predictable. In another way it made her near impossible to stop.

Ranma danced through the rooms and open doors, wincing as the woman ignored the doors and walls half the time to get at him. All it would take would be one impact and Arf would pretty much take him down at the current force she was outputting.

Another wall went down as Ranma continued to dodge away. He had tried a few strikes, but with the way the woman was moving it was impossible to get a good enough hit to actually slow her down. Ranma was really starting to wish he had Yuno's help right now.

Ranma rolled out of the next recently demolished room with a wince. The way this was going the entire floor would collapse around them. Time for a new strategy.

A demolished desk gave him the ammunition, and one ink splatter later Arf's eyes were blinded, and the boy was out of the floor and in the next higher one.

The familiar howled as she rubbed at her eyes. "Don't think this will stop me you little bastard! GET OUT!" She smashed another wall and took a moment to breath deeply. "I know what you smell like." Her grin was more a baring of teeth than a smile.

Ranma panted from his new hiding spot. The adrenaline rush from the encounter was still going strong. He would need the energy if he was going to actually win against the maniac. The boy glanced around the room quickly, trying to note a few items around.

The room wasn't an office like the lower rooms. Here it looked like it had been furnished as a living area. To the side was a kitchen, and instead of bare floors and windows there was a couch, and large expensive looking drapes.

A loud crash alerted the boy to Arf's continuing pursuit, and the boy cursed to himself as he looked around the room frantically. There wasn't anything here that would give him a definite edge, and he was running out of time.

"I got you, you little punk!" The orange haired woman lunged forward as she entered the room, fists leading.

"Bidaah!" Ranma pulled down an eyelid and rolled away from the first few strikes. The kick he responded with barely glanced off the furious familiar, and the boy was forced to back up as she continued to strike out at him.

"You can't dodge forever." Arf snarled as she continued to strike out.

Ranma just smirked as he continued to back up. One lunge later Arf was in position, and Ranma ripped the curtain off a nearby window, throwing the fabric onto the woman. With a ripping sound the fabric was thrown off, only to reveal Ranma holding the metal bar that curtain had been held with. The bar impacted the woman with terrific force, stunning her briefly and bending the bar from the force applied.

The curtain fluttered away, only to be snatched up and the fabric wrapped around Arf in a tight body-bind. Ranma didn't give Arf a chance to recover from the sudden restriction, using the wrap to leverage the familiar's body in a tight circle and into the wall next to the window. The wall cracked and the woman gasped in pain.

"Hraggggh!" Ranma grunted in exertion as he flung Arf into another wall across the room. Again, the impact simply stunned the familiar, and inflicted almost no damage.

Ranma panted a moment as he looked at the still furious and struggling Arf. The barriers that mages used were powerful. Only one thing to do then. The boy went to the expensive looking couch and lifted it. Arf had a brief moment of surprise before the furniture impacted her. The first hit simply stunned her, the second hit staggered her. Ranma didn't let up though, using the couch as a massive battering ram the boy lifted it up again and again, and slammed it into Arf's restrained body.

Finally the woman stopped struggling, and Ranma winced as he threw away the couch. Taking a few steps forward the boy looked over the familiar, kneeling down next to the woman's still form. A quick examination with his limited knowledge said that he had merely knocked her out, and not damaged her permanently.

Ranma's mouth twitched as he looked at the unconscious Arf. The woman had damn near taken him down, it wouldn't do to leave her without a parting present.

* * *

"Arf?" Fate winced as she levered her body up.

Every movement was agony. Her entire body was littered with marks from her mother's punishment. There were a few small healing spells that Arf had started, but they took time, and plundered her bodies resources. That said, Fate felt she deserved every mark.

After all, she had disappointed her mother, and that hurt her heart worse than the whipping. She was so eager to gather the seeds. It was Fate's fault that she wasn't good enough, didn't push herself enough to gather the seeds. All she had to do was gather the seeds, and then they would be a family again. Simple enough, all Fate needed to do was harden her heart and move forward.

She loved her mother after all.

"Arf?" Fate sent and called out as she got to her feet and grasped Bardiche. The familiar wouldn't be out of hearing range if something wasn't happening.

The girl winced as she walked. She couldn't expend the energy to fix her barrier jacket, and more importantly didn't want to aggravate the whip marks. It ached, but if something had happened to Arf, the ache would be unbearable.

Bardiche clanked as the girl opened the door to the hallway. Not seeing anything the girl slowly moved forward, still trying to send to Arf, and failing each time. Every failure seemed to increase her worry, and soon regardless of the pain she was running, out of the hallway and to the stairs.

"Fate?" The boy's voice was vaguely familiar. "What happened?"

The girl spun and aimed Bardiche at the source of the voice, eyes wide. The weapon trembled as she recognized Ranma. The weapon charged up, but the boy's wide eyes seemed to bore into her, and the girl cringed into her cloak instead of blasting him.

"Why are you here? What did you do to Arf?!" The girl backed away, cringing slightly from the boy's penetrating stare.

Finally Ranma seemed to shake off whatever had stunned him about Fate's appearance. "I was trying to figure something out, but I think I got it. Arf's a bit tied up at the moment, and you don't look like much fun right now." The boy shrugged and began to walk away.

Bardiche clanked and began to charge up again, the motes of yellow light gathering quickly around it's tip. "You know where I am.." Fate's voice went soft as she realized what Ranma's presence meant, and what her mother would have wanted. "I have to remove any interference."

"Really now." Ranma's mouth quirked as he looked over his shoulder. "I dunno a lil' girl like you could do something like that."

"Thunder Crusher." Bardiche was the one to reply.

The entire upper area of the building was dimensionally overlaid, otherwise the blast that blew out half the top of the building would have been visible for miles. The beam lanced out of the side, and went into the night sky, bright and wide.

Inside, the smoke cleared, and the place where Ranma had been was nothing but smooth blown away surface. Bardiche never waved, and Fate's breath came out in small gasps. The smoke cleared more, and it revealed Ranma's hand holding Fate's, preventing her from moving the weapon.

One arm wrapped around Fate, and one hand on her weapon, the boy simply smiled at the girl. "No Fate, not now."

"Let go!" Fate pushed at Ranma, ignoring how it made her body burn hideously from the whips strikes. Unfortunately, it was like struggling against steel.

"You should have been able to keep away from me after firing." Ranma replied softy. A small twist with his hand holding Bardiche made Fate's grip release. "You didn't get those marks from fighting us. You didn't get them from fighting period."

"Let go... Please." Fate continued to struggle, eyes tearing up from pain and humiliation. Bardiche clanked to the ground with an almost soft clack.

"I know wounds from training." Ranma continued mercilessly. "I know what battle wounds look like. This isn't it." Ranma took a deep breath, and let go of Fate. "But I am not going to ask."

"Ranma..?" Fate looked at the boy, looking very vulnerable right then and there. A wrong move looked like she could shatter into pieces.

"Ya know I always thought you were some crazy chick with an affinity for black." Ranma chuckled and looked away. "But I think I agree with Nanoha now. You are a beautiful girl. Kinda sad, but gentle."

Fate sniffed, and dropped to her knees. Her breath hitched once, and then with a shuddering breath, she began to quietly sob. Ranma deliberately didn't look as she cried, but it felt like he was there holding here anyway. For that one heartbeat, Fate allowed herself to break. To loose everything in a wordless mental cry for love and protection.

_ "I think I will just watch you two fight now." _ Ranma's mental voice was so quiet Fate almost didn't hear it, but she did. _ "If you need help though.." _

Fate sobbed again, and through blurry eyes she watched Ranma walk away, and out of the hole that her blast had made. "Mommy."

"FATE!" Arf's cry was loud and frantic. "Fate! Fate! Fate!" The familiar charged up to the kneeling girl. "What did that bastard do?! I am gonna kill him!"

Fate's breath hitched, and then she began to giggle, and then degrade into loud laughter.

"Huh?" Arf's ear twitched.

Apparently Ranma couldn't resist the opportunity an unconscious Arf gave him. There were a variety of doodles and other markings drawn on her face, all of it in permanent marker.  


* * *

"Are you sure you are ok Ranma?" Nanoha's voice was soft as she spoke to the boy.

She was honestly more worried about the other boy than herself. She had just gotten away with what amounted to electrical burns that with Yuno's help had healed within the day. Ranma however had been taken over by the jewel seed.

"Eh, I don't remember that much honestly." The boy placed his hands behind his head and hopped onto the nearby railing.

The boy had met up with the girl after school. Nanoha's friends were off at violin lessons, so it was only Yuno, Ranma, and Nanoha. Yuno was riding on Nanoha's shoulder, and all three were taking their time as they walked, enjoying the peace and quiet.

"That might be for the best." Yuno finally replied as he watched the boy. Aside from the rather odd effect that Ranma had reported earlier there had been no noticeable changes, so he guessed they were in the clear. "Did the pink taste go away?"

"Pink?" Nanoha blinked and turned to Ranma. "How can you taste pink?"

"It's the only way I can describe it," Ranma shrugged in frustration as he tried to explain. "I figured out what it was though, and it's not bugging me anymore."

"Oh?" Yuno perked up and turned to fully face the boy. "What was it?"

"Nanoha." Ranma hopped off the railing, bored with the balancing act.

The girl's face flushed. "EH!?"

"I was 'tasting' your power." The boy yawned and stretched. "Now that I got what it was I can sorta separate it away from actual taste."

"This is highly unusual." Yuno sighed and flopped against Nanoha's shoulder. "I mean it's not uncommon for beginning mages to describe magic sensing as taste or smell, but to do it over such distance is very rare."

"So Ranma is tasting my magic?" Nanoha tilted her head in thought. "It sounds really perverted when you say it like that."

THWUNK! Ranma tripped and fell over in surprise. "You don't have to describe it like that. Just say I am sensing your Chi."

"But think the fact that you are tasting me is amusing!" Nanoha chirped in reply.

"You are having far to much fun with this Nanoha." Yuno's head slumped and he sighed in near shame. "And it's magic, not Chi."

"Meh, same thing." Ranma got to his feet and peered at Nanoha. The girl didn't look like she was making fun of them, but all the same he got the feeling that she was doing it on purpose.

Suddenly Nanoha stopped. Ranma blinked in surprise, but when Yuno stiffened as well he got an idea of what was going on.

"A jewel seed is activating." Nanoha clutched Raging Heart and began to run, the device brightening immediately. "Set UP!"

Ranma just strolled along as Nanoha's clothing shifted in a blur of light into her white barrier jacket. The girl launched into the air and began to fly towards where she was sensing the jewel seed, only to stop and look at the still calm Ranma.

"Ranma? Aren't you coming." The girl queried in confusion.

Ranma closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly. "I can't hunt the seeds anymore. I will be there to watch though." Left unsaid was a whole host of things, nightmares, promises, hopes, and Fate herself.

Nanoha just floated there for a moment in almost confusion as she watched her friend continue to walk. then her face cleared, and she smiled warmly at the boy. "It's ok. I understand."

With that Nanoha sped off, Yuno on her shoulder. Behind her, Ranma watched the two leave with a small smile before he began to sprint. Just because he promised not to fight Fate for the jewel seeds didn't mean he couldn't watch.  


* * *

"The dimensional waves have been successfully traced, and the diviners have managed to recreate the original incident that caused the disturbance." The female voice was crisp and professional as she reported to her superior.

"Ahm, good." The reply came nonchalantly. "Could you please bring the data onscreen? Meanwhile head to the origin, we have little time to waste."

"Yes ma'am."

The bridge of the dimensional ship Asura was immaculate. Dominated by smooth lines and a soft blue glow, it conveyed both age and subtle power. Every ship of the Time Space Administration Bureau was fully capable of dealing with the dimensional forces as well as the standard mundane forces in space flight, making them the pride and the joy of the TSAB. Asura was an older ship, but still very capable of what was necessary. In this case that necessity was tracking down a Lost Logia, the jewel seeds.

At the center of the bridge was a large screen, with several small screens to the side. The scene dominating all the screens with various data was that of a very interesting sight. A boy covered in shadows screaming as lightning arced around him. Two staffs were crossed over his neck, and two tiny girls were crying out in pain as well.

"Interesting." The woman in command winced as the scream resounded across the bridge. "Stop the sound please."

"Yes Ma'am." The scene was no less potent without sound, but at least their eardrums were spared.

"Are they all right?"

"Yes Ma'am, our diviners were able to determine that the reaction was self terminated, and the subjects involved were relatively unharmed." The woman in charge of the console replied with a small smile. "A reaction like that could have been far worse."

"Elemental magic combine with a manifestation and set on a positive feedback loop." A male voice interjected. It was calm, and spoken very formally. "They are very lucky, something like that has been known to burn out a mage's magical core."

"Well, if this power input is correct, they are strong as well as lucky." The commander finally spoke as she looked at the readings. "The girls at least, the boy looks to be a civilian caught in the crossfire."

"Affirmative, they seem to either match or exceeded Chrono's maximum output." The girl at the console brought up a few arcane measurements. "Though with the feedback loop it's rather hard to get a good idea."

"Power is only part of the equation," The boy, Chrono replied with a straight face. "I should have little problem dealing with them if it comes down to it."

"Now now," The commander smiled at the boy at her side. "I am sure they will be reasonable. You are such a pessimist dear."

"Mother." Chrono glanced at the woman at his side briefly before turning back to the screen. "At least we have a confirmation of where the jewel seeds are." The scene continued to where the boy brought his hand to his mouth and bit the jewel seed imbedded out of his palm. "The boy is fairly coherent for such a large amount of power flowing through him."

"Yes, he isn't nearly as strong as the two girls, but it is fairly impressive." The girl at the console replied as she brought up a few screens. "He is slightly above the standard norm for the planet, but nothing abnormal. More worrying is the shadow manifestation."

"A full manifestation like that is only the result of very intense emotional trauma." The woman in the commander's chair sighed and leaned back. "When we have the jewel seeds safely sealed, Chrono, you know what to do."

"I will see what I can accomplish Captain." Chrono gave a short bow of acknowledgment.

"Good boy." Captain Lindy leaned back into her chair.

"Tea ma'am?" A crew member poured a cup of tea from an archaic teapot and handed it to Lindy, who added several cubes of sugar and some milk.

"Ma'am! We are detecting another dimensional wave!" The woman at the console began typing furiously. "Bringing the data up now."

"It's the girls again." Lindy frowned a moment. "The boy is there too... I thought he was a civilian?"

"His power output isn't significantly higher than average." The woman at the console frowned as well.

"It doesn't matter." Chrono replied and began to leave the bridge. "We can figure out the mystery later. Right now priority is stopping the jewel seed from causing anymore destruction."

"Of course." Lindy looked at her son with a small smile. "Be nice Chrono."

Chrono frowned but said nothing as he left the bridge. Lindy giggled slightly and turned to the screen again. Depicted on it where two tiny girls in what amounted to a magical dog fight. Near the ground a jewel seed glowed, and off to the side a young boy was moving far faster than he should have been capable of.

The familiar trying to attack the boy seemed to be of the same mind judging by the furious howling and magical bindings she was attempting. The girls were unusual for their power, but the boy was positively unique. The jewel seed took precedence though.  


* * *

"I am gonna kill you!" The roar ripped through the air. It was more like the roar of a beast than anything coming from a human throat. Fitting since it was Arf that made the threat.

Her opponent however just dodged every attack with a smile on his face. Sure he was being pressed, but Arf wasn't trained like he was so she couldn't tell that her attacks were becoming predictable. "I see lots of promises but I don't see much fulfillment!"

"GRHAA!" Arf growled out more than spoke at this point as she chased the maddeningly elusive Ranma

"You know.." Yuno looked at Arf and looked to Nanoha. "I know I should be doing something, but I somehow feel as if I am intruding."

The ferret probably could grab the jewel seed while everyone was fighting, but Nanoha had wanted to fight Fate alone, and Ranma seemed to have things well in hand. Right now things were as civil as they could be, and if he interfered things would deteriorate very rapidly. Right now his best bet was to probably wait for an opening on Arf and at least bring her down before she hurt Ranma.

Up in the sky Nanoha had little thought for Yuno or Ranma. Right now her mind was on the deadly aerial ballet with Fate. Every blast they let off was enough to level a building, and the slightest misstep would allow Fate to win. The other girl was good, and had the benefit of being properly trained with a solid background that Nanoha was just starting to catch up on.

Her best strengths were overwhelming power, and the fact that Ranma and Genma had practically engraved dodging into her body. Hadn't she met the two she might have attempted to fight a loosing battle in hand to hand. Instead she kept as far away as feasible and simply blasted Fate to kingdom come. She had to win this battle. Not because she needed the jewel seed, but because Fate was faltering. She didn't know how or why, but Nanoha knew in her heart that all it would take was a small crack and Fate would finally start to listen instead of attack.

So Nanoha would provide the crack in her demeanor, by pounding the other girl into paste.

Of the combatants, the only one not seriously emotional was Fate, the fulcrum of the entire battle. She felt numb, drained, and oddly very calm. Some part of her wanted to curl up in a ball and have her mother lay her hand on her daughter in kindness instead of cruelty. The rest of her knew that if she as going to regain an ounce of her mother's love she needed to get the jewel seeds.

Oddly she didn't feel much one way or the other now. The only things that were keeping her up right now were Arf, Ranma's strange acceptance and support, and oddly enough, Nanoha's determination. Every strike, every blast from Bardiche was made in a grim sort of determination. She had achieved a calm that she had previously only pretended to have. It was a dead sort of calm though, the calm of one on the verge of a cliff.

What the outcome of the battle might have been is impossible to say, for just as Fate finally managed to get near enough to utilize her superior close combat capabilities an unforeseen complication occurred. There was interference.

Both weapons swung through the air, Fate's Bardiche to strike, and Nanoha's Raging Heart to block, and right before they struck they were intercepted by a pair of gloved hands. A small, but eerily calm and determined boy had stopped both girls in their tracks with a single move. His next words only served to confuse Nanoha, but they did cause Fate to panic and alert Arf.

"By order of the Time Space Administration Bureau I am ordering you both the stand down," The black haired boy stated with an almost tangible authority.

Anything else he might have said was cut off by Arf's panicked response. A quick spell off light blinded the combatants and the familiar had grabbed both Fate and the jewel seed. Her next move was an anti-tracking spell and a movement spell to get her out of range of anything that might have accompanied the interfering officer. The blond girl had a brief moment to look stunned and wide eyed before she was whisked away.

They boy blinked the stars out of his eyes and shook his head before looking at the other people still there. "I trust you are not going to attempt to flee as well?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Time Space Administration Bureau?" Nanoha looked at the newcomer with a confused expression.

On the ground Yuno looked a little bit worried, and a little bit relieved at the same time. Ranma though looked peeved. He was half mad that Fate and Arf had left, and half mad that someone had interfered. He didn't like cops anyway.

* * *

"Our job is to monitor and police the dimensional barriers, as well as help police and assist planets that consent to join our organization. For the most part we deal with occasional dimensional disputes and attempt to chart more planets and governments." The explanation was delivered in a precise and almost lecturing tone. "I am Officer Chrono, and I am here to make sure that the jewel seeds are properly sealed and contained."

The boy had wasted little time in gathering the three jewel hunters and then utilizing a magical transport to bring them to the ship. He was formidable despite the fact that he was the same size as Nanoha. Dressed in a spiked uniform that doubled as his barrier jacket the boy practically radiated authority.

Nanoha and Yuno were sufficiently cowed by the boy and the futuristic looking ship, but Ranma alternated between irritated and curious. Even as they walked the boy fell further and further back, until halfway through Chrono's explanation he ducked off unnoticed.

"So you are a sort of police officer?" Nanoha finally asked as she worked her way through the awe and intimidation.

"That is the best explanation." Chrono replied with a straight face. "Of course our authority is a trifle bit limited by what the local government wishes, but we manage to find workarounds where necessary. The jewel seeds are a Lost Logia, and they take priority over all else." The boy turned to look at Nanoha and then turned even more around to fully look behind him.

"Of course." Nanoha tilted her head. "Is there something wrong?"

"Where did the boy go?" He replied with a small frown.

"Ummmm.." Nanoha looked embarrassed as she looked around, and then smiled shakily at the officer. "I don't know?"

"A dimensional ship is no place for an untrained civilian." Chrono stated in irritation. The boy looked around and then frowned before gripping a small device in one hand and concentrating. Finally he looked up and almost glared at Nanoha. "Tell me, is he always this disruptive?"

"What did he do?" Nanoha asked flatly as her embarrassed expression shifted into a more irritated one.

On her shoulder Yuno just sighed and hung his head. "That boy can get into trouble in a room with no windows and one door."

"Probably." Nanoha's reply was swift and half joking.

"It would figure that the one who causes the most trouble is the one with the least magic." Chrono sighed and began to backtrack. "The boy is this way, apparently one of the crewmembers tried to stop him and was knocked down then stolen from." The boy paused a moment as he looked at Nanoha and Yuno. "The ferret can shift into his real form now. You don't need to hide here."

"Ah, yes." Yuno blinked a few times and hopped off Nanoha's shoulder. "I had been in this form so long I forgot that it was just a way to recover quickly."

"Huh?" Nanoha looked confused and then very surprised as Yuno glowed and shifted into the form of a small young boy about her age.

"Ah, it's nice to have fingers again." Yuno flexed out his arms.

He was a small boy, dressed in tan colored clothing with dirty blond and short hair, appropriately enough the same shade of fur he had as a ferret. The boy smiled and then looked at Nanoha with a confused expression.

"Are you all right Nanoha?"

Nanoha pointed at Yuno with a strange expression on her face. "But, weren't you ferret?"

Yuno looked very confused. "You found me in this form didn't you? I could have sworn I saw you before I shifted into a ferret."

"But but..." Nanoha's brain sputtered for a moment before Chrono interrupted with a small cough.

"I think ferret boy and you can deal with this later." The officer stated. "Right now I need you to stop your friend from wreaking havoc."

"Right!" Nanoha nodded with determination and grabbed Yuno. "Lets go!"

'She got over that fast.' Yuno mused to himself as he was dragged down the hallway.

As they ran through the metal hallways it quickly became obvious where Ranma was by the yelling. Several adults were yelling and shaking their hands as they ran after something just down the hallway. Chrono's authority quickly cleared a way, and they found Ranma smirking and holding half a dozen magical staffs and fending off two more crewmembers.

The three reached Ranma just as he knocked one man down, and used one of his stolen staffs to block the other's magical blast. The boy just smirked at the still standing crewmember, and was about to disable him too when Nanoha reached him.

The boy's smirk rapidly dissolved into an expression of pain and he dropped all his purloined goods. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" The boy whined in pain as his ear was grabbed.

"Ranma!" Nanoha's voice was like a whiplash. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Umm?" The boy looked at the furious girl with a slightly apologetic expression. "Having fun? OW!" He cried out as the girl twisted harder.

"You just met the people and you already having fights with them!" Nanoha scolded and began to drag Ranma away from the crowd.

"You know, he might have been a little pain, but I almost feel sorry for the bastard." One of the men muttered to Chrono.

The boy just shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was going to be an interesting day, he could just sense it.

* * *

"It is a pleasure to meet you all." A green haired woman smiled at the children as they entered the room.

It was almost entertaining the way the room had been setup. Take what you know about the Japanese Tea Ceremony, and twist it to look like someone had set it up from an outsiders perspective, and that was what was arranged. To Nanoha it was a bit discomforting at first, but she got over it quickly, being raised to be polite and deferential to authority figures. To Ranma though, it was just amusing, and even if the woman hadn't intended it, he already liked her.

"I am Captain Lindy, and your escort, whom I am sure you have already met is my son." The woman bowed slightly and kneeled down on one side of the mat that had been set up under an umbrella. Another crewmember set a teakettle down on the mat next to the woman and stepped to the side.

"Yes. I am Nanoha Takamachi, age nine, and in grade three." The girl bowed politely and introduced her companions. "These are Yuno Scrya and Ranma Saotome, my good friends."

Both boys bowed when introduced, though Ranma rubbed his ear in a slight wince. The three quickly seated themselves and let Lindy pour them some of the tea that had been set out. Lindy let them get settled a moment before starting off, still smiling sweetly.

"I hear you caused quite the stir when you first got on the ship Mr. Saotome." She began, secretly amused by the way both children glared at the pig-tailed boy.

"Eh, sorry?" Ranma scratched his head. "I was just curious at first, but then one of the men tried to grab me, and then a few started to shoot at me." The boy shrugged at that point, rubbing at his ear again and wincing as Nanoha's glare intensified. "So I grabbed the staffs away, and it sorta got worse."

"I see." Lindy looked at her tea for a moment, positive that Nanoha was still scolding the boy mentally, judging by the winces the boy was displaying. "Ultimately there is no harm done, but do try to be a bit more courteous. There are places on a ship that would e dangerous to get into."

"I don't think you need to worry about that." Ranma shrugged again and sipped at his tea. He scooted a bit away from Nanoha.

"But enough about that. We are here to deal with far more pressing issues." Lindy sighed and made a gesture. A screen floated up, and resolved into the most recent jewel seed fight. "The jewel seeds."

"Umm, yes." Nanoha nodded as she looked at the seeds. "Me and my friends were working on collecting them to keep them safe and so that people wont get hurt by them."

"But there is another person attempting to collect them as well." Lindy had the screen focus on Fate. "We have little concern over who is collecting them, only that they get sealed." The woman frowned and waved her hand, making the screen disappear. "They are perhaps more dangerous than you might think."

"You mean the stuff they have already wrecked isn't dangerous enough?" Ranma muttered quietly.

"We don't know what the jewel seeds, or for that matter what quite a few of the Lost Logia were made for. " Lindy took a sip of her tea. "We have some theories, but no real solid proof."

"Most Lost Logia are from a very ancient civilization called Al Hazard." Yuno spoke quietly as he ran a finger over the cup rim. "Their purposes are shrouded in mystery, but even the smallest things from their time is near indecipherable to us. Some things are relatively harmless, but from what we were able to determine the jewel seeds were some sort of power source. What they were supposed to power was undecipherable."

"So much lost, destroyed by their own hubris. No we have to deal with the remnants of the place." Lindy smiled at the now quiet children. "Fortunately we have such strong people to deal with these issues." Lindy's voice changed from comforting to commanding. "Our goal is simple, we need the jewel seeds contained. One of them can cause dimensional waves strong enough to cause earthquakes in another planet. Several of them together are quite frankly nothing we wish to have happen. If you are willing, we can assist you in sealing the remaining seeds."

"What about Fate?" Nanoha asked as she looked at the woman.

"That is the blond girls name?" Lindy asked in reply. At Nanoha's nod she continued. "If she cooperates, or has a good reason for gathering the seeds we can afford to be lenient. Right now though, she isn't making a good impression."

"Fate isn't a bad person." Nanoha replied as her expression turned sad. "She is just a bit confused and sad."

Ranma snorted at that, but chimed in. "She needs some sense beaten into her thick skull I think."

Lindy smirked at the boy, but nodded. "If you can convince her to turn herself in, I can near guarantee that we can keep her from serious trouble. You are all still very young."

Nanoha only took a moment to look at her companions and see their nods. "All right, so what can we do?"

"We have a few plans." The captain began with a large smile. "Welcome aboard."  


* * *

"We know about Nanoha's capabilities." The statement came out of the blue, and cause Lindy to choke briefly on the tea she was sipping.

The captain had approached the family provide a suitable cover story about Nanoha and her new situation, but apparently all the hard work she had put into being pleasant and comforting was unnecessary. Here she had thought that she had managed to keep everything somewhat concealed, and instead the parents already knew.

"Well." Lindy coughed a moment and swallowed. "She thought you didn't, so I was going to cover for her while we worked this small incident." Let it never be said that Captain Lindy couldn't improvise. "That you know makes my job a little bit easier."

"Indeed." Nanoha's father replied with a straight face. "We are confident that our daughter has enough sense to take care of herself though. She will tell us when she is ready. Our question is what are you doing that you need to cover for her?"

"Well." The captain leaned back and smiled softly. "The girl is determined to gather a rather dangerous item. Fortunately they are fairly inert unless provoked, so she isn't in any serious danger, but considering her magical talent we can't arbitrarily ban her from assisting."

The woman faced Nanoha's parents, both of them sitting straight up in their seats on the couch. They looked both worried and proud, but they were still parents, so they had the right to information.

"Nanoha has an incredibly rare talent, with proper training and guidance she is fully capable of becoming a true elite." Lindy looked very serious as she continued. "Unfortunately that makes it impossible to ignore her age. Her talent now that it has been manifested would be dangerous to improperly handle. Past a certain point magical talent is grounds for automatic enlistment if only to prevent abuse."

"Abuse?" Nanoha's mother looked more worried than proud now.

"Nanoha right now could level half a city given around thirty minutes." Lindy replied with all seriousness. "That is if she is unopposed. I am not saying that the girl would ever do something like that, but we do have to take into account her strength and compensate for it." The woman frowned momentarily. "Most of the time we don't even bother testing for magical talent until the teens at least, but Nanoha would probably have manifested sooner than that even barring this incident."

"I see." Shiro finally said, leaning back with a small sigh. "So considering her power, why should we trust you to handle it?"

"You don't have to." Lindy shrugged and set down her teacup, placing her hands in her laps. "Once the incident is over with we will just monitor her and maybe occasionally request assistance. Her device is fully capable of training the girl properly, so all we need to do is be sure that she doesn't abuse her powers and report to you if she does. If necessary we can seal her capabilities as punishment."

"That is surprisingly hands off for a military organization." Shiro finally commented. He glanced over the tip of his teacup and for a moment Lindy felt a thrill of something uncomfortable run across her spine, and then it was gone. "But I think we can trust you for now. You haven't done anything inappropriate, and to be quite honest, anyone with the capability to look after our girl is perfectly fine."

Lindy smiled and picked up her tea again. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."

"Did you give the same explanation to Ranma's father?" Momoko asked with a small smile. "Honestly I would think you would have been more interested in the boy than our daughter as brilliant as she is."

Lindy tilted her head in semi-confusion. "That's the thing, I haven't spoken with Ranma's father yet. The thing is, he isn't nearly as powerful as Nanoha." The captains look shifted into a totally confused look. "He shouldn't be able to keep up with her as he reportedly has." Finally Lindy just shook her head. "We managed to find one or two references about martial arts, but none of them match his degree of capabilities."

"I suppose it is a sort of cosmic karma then isn't it." Shiro chuckled and blew on his newest cup of tea. "That you have something that we find totally beyond our understanding, and that we have something totally beyond yours."

"You have more information?" Lindy perked up. "Ranma's explanations were hardly enlightening, and we still haven't managed to find his father to speak with him."

"Why don't you ask him?" Nanoha's mother smiled and stood up as the doorbell rang. "He usually comes by around this time to speak with us."

Shiro smiled at Lindy, and again she felt that small undercurrent of threat. The woman couldn't help but feel that she had just avoided something that wouldn't have been pleasant at all. The entire meeting was far different than she ever would have thought.

"Good evening Genma." Shiro nodded at the man as he entered.

Lindy's mouth twitched as she saw him. The man had his son's sense of fashion. Really, an off white gi was hardly a proper way to make an impression. He did have a sense of presence though, different than his son, but still that indefinable aura. Ranma seemed to be in constant motion, even when still. This man just seemed solid.

"Hello, you must be the captain lady that my son was speaking about." Genma smirked slightly. "I'm still working on getting my boy to describe things properly, so he neglected your name."

"Captain Lindy of the TSAB." Lindy bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Your son is quite the little hellion by the way."

"He is." Genma snorted as he took a seat. "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble."

"Five men bruised and around a dozen men humiliated, but no real injuries." Lindy replied with a straight face. "I would dearly love to know how a boy with near no magical power was capable of taking down that many fully trained mages."

The man in the white gi just chuckled as he accepted a cup of tea from Momoko. "I've seen the way Nanoha uses her chi, and I can make a guess as to how your mages do if they are of the same style." He blew on the tea and took a sip before continuing. "Quite frankly, they have some interesting ideas, but the amount of chi they use is staggering."

"Chi?" Lindy looked confused for a moment before connecting the dots and replacing the word. "Oh, you mean magical energy." Lindy shrugged and looked at Genma with a smile. "Your world has a far lower magical average than most other ones. Aside from the obvious outliers like Nanoha, most people are at best barely magical. To us, Mid-Childen magic is usually fairly easy."

"It's called Chi." Genma just gave Lindy a look. "And from what I can tell you use a bulldozer when you could just be using a shovel. I will admit it gets the job done, but compared to my boy, your mages will be undeniably weak."

Lindy's eyebrow raised. Off to the side Nanoha's mother and father looked on in amusement at the rapid back and forth the two were having.

"You haven't seen half of what a fully trained mage can do. I wouldn't discount one of us so easily." Lindy shot back.

"Bah. It's all Chi in the end. Without that crutch you call a device all of you are just weak little children without their toys." Genma snorted and set down his teacup. "You have no foundation. You just use a stick and hope it will support the roof."

"Really now?" Lindy raised her hand and a small circle of magical glyphs appeared. "Do you see any devices making this?"

"Do you see any making this?" Genma held up his hand. In the palm of it was a single button of the woman's uniform. "Did you even notice it leaving?"

Lindy blinked and looked down. Right there, her top button had been stolen, and she hadn't even felt it. Her eyebrow twitched slightly. "I get the picture." The woman visibly calmed herself. "You of course know that is far from a real combat scenario." She leaned back and looked at the man.

"Of course." Genma chuckled and set the button down next to Lindy. "Anything Goes is all about taking other ideas and making them our own. So I would propose a trade."

"Really?" Lindy smiled widely. "What sort of trade."

"You assist me in learning your style, and I assist you in learning mine." Genma chuckled at this point. "Or assist one of your men since you are obviously a busy woman."

"I think we can arrange something that will suit both of us quite well." Lindy chuckled as well.

Off to the side, almost forgotten Nanoha's parents whispered to each other. "Why did I just feel as if hell itself had opened underneath us?"

"I might have an idea or two."


	4. Chapter 4

"K, it's been almost a week, and I'm gettin' really irritated." Ranma looked up at the ceiling of the dimensional space ship with a rather irritated frown on his face. "What the heck is taking so long?"

"We have to scan every inch of the ground to find the seeds. Un-activated they have very little signature." The woman in charge of the station frowned back at the boy. "We are finishing off the scan of the landmass where you found the majority of the seeds and are going to start with a deep sea scan next. Unfortunately that will take a lot of time."

"Ah, I suppose it was too much to wish for. Considering the way the seeds fell the rest of them probably hit the ocean." Lindy waved a hand and took a sip of tea before turning to Ranma. "I suppose that we will just have to shift to the waiting game."

Ranma just sighed and looked at the woman flatly before shrugging. "I suppose. I need to go bug Nanoha about taking it easy anyway. If we can't get it done fast, she needs to slow down."

"She is certainly taking advantage of our faculties isn't she?" Lindy chuckled and waved at Ranma. "Don't think I didn't see you doing the same thing." Left unsaid was that both children had been monitored the entire time.

Ranma just stuck out his tongue. "At least I know when to take a break. Nanoha knows the word moderation about as well as I know the word behave."

Lindy had been sipping on her tea when she heard that, and choked momentarily as the boy left. Her giggles followed the boy out.

* * *

"AHHH!" The whip crack sound of impact against flesh cracked through the air.

Another crack resounded as the whip struck the body, and then again, and again. Every strike was followed by a scream, and then whimpers near the end. Even as the cries died down the whip strikes continued, and soon there was nothing but the sound of whip strikes.

Fate's mother breathed heavily as she looked at her daughter, her face twisted into a ferocious expression of rage.

"Didn't I give enough?" Another strike of her weapon against Fate's limp body. "Haven't I slaved for you enough!?"

Fate's eyes just looked sadly at her mother, the girl having no real energy left to even scream as her mother brought the weapon down again and again.

"I gave you all the tools you needed, all the tutoring, all the power! And all I wanted was just one tiny little favor!" Precia screamed and brought down the whip again. "The jewel seeds, those precious little seeds. Mommy needed them, and you let her down." The woman took a deep breath and struck again.

Fate had no energy left to cry out, and her vision was getting blurry. Her barrier jacket was in tatters, a victim of the enhanced magical strikes of her mother's weapon. Her body was a mass of red welt and bruises from the assault.

Precia stuck her daughter a few more times, and then sighed. "I suppose you can salvage this." Her whip morphed and Fate fell to the ground. "There are still a few seeds left. If you can get mommy those, everything will be all right."

As Precia left, Arf ran into the room, and looked at Fate. The girl looked back at her familiar with a sad smile. "Sorry Arf, I made you cry."

"Damnit Fate," Arf sobbed and knelt by her battered master. "What kind of mother would do this to a child."

"It's ok," Fate shook with pain as she reached up to her familiar's face. "I will be fine." Her vision wavered and the girl let her hand fall.

Arf howled like a wounded animal and looked up to where Fate's mother had gone. Before Fate could stop her, the woman charged into the other room. Incoherent screaming, and magical discharge echoed back for a moment, and then the crackling of a barrier breaking.

"WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU!?" Arf's voice screamed.

An explosion resounded though the floor and it shook slightly. The stately echo's of her mother's footsteps clipped into the room, and Fate knew that Arf was gone. "Such a poor excuse for a familiar."

Fate looked up at her mother with half adoration and half fear.

"Don't worry Fate." Precia looked down at her daughter. "We can make you a better one. When we have the seeds, you can have whatever you want. They will make everything better." She smiled hollowly. "Now let's get you cleaned up, and you can try one last time."

* * *

  
'I sorta expected the jewel seeds to all be sealed right about now.' Ranma sighed as he thought to himself. 'Instead we have been waiting for what seems like weeks.'

Considering the power of the scanners aboard the dimensional space ship, Ranma really had though that the jewel seeds would have been all located by now. Instead he and Nanoha had been reduced to the whole wait and see method. Since it was likely that Fate would have the same trouble, if not more, Lindy had finally decided to send Nanoha and Ranma home, and put on standby.

Nanoha was catching up with her friends. They had been feeling neglected lately, and the girl had been banned from excessive training yet again, so Nanoha had a lot of free time on her hands. Ranma himself had no friends in the area aside from Nanoha, and though the girl would have been happy to have him around her, Ranma always felt like a bit of a fifth wheel when he was around the three. Yuno would only tolerate Ranma poking him for so long before he got snippy, and Genma was actually up in the ship doing something or other.

That left the boy actually devoid of things to do. Ranma had slept half the day, and it was mid afternoon. The sun was shining through the slowly gathering storm clouds, but it was still a beautiful day, and the boy was getting antsy. Anyone who knew Ranma knew that him getting antsy was a bad thing.

Ranma had thought through and discarded half a dozen plans before making what was probably a spectacularly bad decision. He decided to go bug Fate.

It proved surprisingly easy to track down the ozone smell. Halfway across the town and a few dozen floors up the girl was standing, and just watching. Her long blond hair was snapping in the turbulent wind, and her cape fluttered. The picture was achingly beautiful in a way, and equally sorrowful.

Ranma was struck by the emotion in the scene as he set down across the rooftop. Here yet again he was stricken by how sad the girl felt.

Later he would never be able to say how long he watched the girl, but eventually she turned to face him. There was no real life in her movements, no passion. There was however, an edge, the frail feeling in her eyes that she had nothing left. She swept Bardiche to the side, and the device gave a clank that was oddly loud in the wind, and she looked at Ranma with eyes half dead.

"For you mother." Her voice was soft.

Ranma cracked his neck and looked at Fate. The mood didn't seem to fit his usual style, but the tiny boy smirked at his opponent anyway. "Eh, why not, I was half hoping this would happen anyway."

Fate's form blurred out of sight in a flash of yellow light, only to reappear behind the boy, Bardiche already swinging downward with deadly precision. "Scythe Form." Bardiche's voice was the same formal tone as always.

Ranma rolled out of the way, foot lashing behind him even as he dodged. The strike impacted against a shield, but the momentum transferred allowed the boy to continue his roll. As he turned to face Fate he wasn't surprised to see the girl already moving back and aiming Bardiche as she lifted up into the air. The boy smirked and began to move away even as a sphere of yellow energy impacted into the rooftop.

An explosion ripped through the air causing a few screams from the busy street below, and singing Ranma slightly. The boy winced as he watched Fate dispassionately aim yet again at him. He had forgotten that a lot of the fighting was done in a barrier, and there was a good chance that someone could get hurt with the way the girl was attacking.

Fate watched Ranma begin to run away, and with a frown looked at the devastated rooftop. A gesture later, and the world beneath her feet began to shift as a barrier began to form under her feet. The baring cars and moving people began to fade into the background, and then there was nothing left to hold her back. With a mere exertion of will she shot forward and higher into the air.

Ranma grimaced slightly as he looked behind him. He had a pretty good idea on what was going to happen next. He was proven right a few seconds later as he caught a glimpse of the speeding Fate. That was all he had time for as he sprinted and jumped off the building, narrowly avoiding the ovoid sphere of magical power. Again there was a large explosion among the rooftops.

Up in the air Fate frowned slightly as the smoke obscured her sight. She was faster than Ranma, but the boy was trickier than her, and even in her deadened state she knew enough not to get close. Unfortunately, the range that she needed to be at to be safe made it hard to properly strike the boy.

Further contemplation was cut off as a large length of cable came spinning towards the girl. She was forced to move quickly to the side, to avoid getting tangled. Ranma however had apparently predicted her dodging. Only a quick shield prevented the half dozen bottles from impacting into her, all of them shattering as they struck the barrier with terrific force. The last one impacted with a wet sound, and beer went flying everywhere, drenching Fate with the smell of old alcohol.

On the ground Ranma smirked slightly, and then broke into a full fledged smile as Fate glared in the first actual expression in the fight. His smirk lasted even as he ran to the side to avoid the wide beam of yellow light incinerating half the building he was on.

Fate swooped down next to him, lashing out with Bardiche, slicing the building but not the boy. Her previous caution was gone, only a fury totally out of proportion to the crime was left. Ranma's counter attack was swift and ineffective against her barrier shield, but did knock her back enough to make her wary.

Bardiche clanked and spoke as she aimed at the infuriating boy. "Thunder Smasher."

The bright beam of yellow light lanced out again ineffectually, obscuring the boy. The attack however had never been meant to hit, only to give Fate room to ascend higher into the air and out of the land bound boy's reach.

Fate hadn't counted on Ranma's excellent aim with his throwing arm. A roof antenna made an excellent improvised spear, and the weapon impacted her stomach with near deadly force. If her barrier jacket had been a little bit weaker the attack would have impaled her through, instead it knocked her into the side of a building, and through a window.

She gasped and slashed Bardiche at the air, near missing Ranma's blurring form as the boy tried to capitalize on the attack. Papers fluttered from the wind, and the clouds above them both began to rumble ominously as they obscured the sun.

Bardiche lit up, showing Ranma's no longer smirking face. Fate gasped, but held out Bardiche and glared at Ranma. A small yellow glob of power formed at her side, and Ranma inched forward. The next attack blew out the windows, and missed Ranma by inches.

He lunged forward, into the girl's range. She moved with the attack, and swung Bardiche in a glittering arc, only to have Ranma sweep out her feet.

"Blitz Rush." Bardiche spoke, and Fate's form blurred out of sight.

Ranma didn't hesitate, and moved past normal limits forward. Fate's form reappeared mere second's in front of him, still in the air, but with Bardiche aimed at him. It lit up, and with near impossible agility Ranma swerved around the small yellow globe of power. Bardiche came up, and flew out of Fate's grasp, spinning into the air.

Fate grimaced, but made a gesture. Too late Ranma realized that he had heard no explosion. The attack impacted his back with far more force than it's size would have indicated.

"Bardiche." Fate intoned, and the weapon was in her hands again.

Ranma gasped, and staggered to his knees, the entire back of his gi top was shredded, and burnt. It looked far worse than it really was, but it was enough to stun him. Bardiche aimed at him slowly, and trembled as it lit up.

Ranma smirked at Fate, still on his knees. The boy looked injured, and in pain, but far from defeated even now. "So what now?"

"Ranma.." Fate's hands trembled, and Bardiche lit up even brighter as thunder rolled overhead. Her eyes grew glassy, and a tear trickled down her cheek. The moment was impossible to decipher, impossible to define, but Ranma got to his feet, slowly, and painfully, and Fate did not fire Bardiche.

Suddenly Fate's eyes widened, and she swung her weapon to the side and let loose every ounce of power she had gathered up in a brilliant display of magical power. The resulting explosion lit up the thunder darkened sky, and showed one figure that made Fate's heart constrict in some unknown feeling.

"Hello Fate." Nanoha smiled at the girl as Raging Heart lit up in a bright pink light. "It's nice to see you again."  


* * *

"Really Nanoha, I think you are a bit too young to be so caught up in this Ranma boy." Nanoha's blond haired friend stuck her tongue out at the thought.

Nanoha giggled nervously. "Ranma is an interesting boy, but he is just a friend."

"You have been so caught up in playing with him it's been like you have forgotten us." The girl with purple hair interjected timidly. "Always off with him, or out on family business."

"Yeah! It's like we barely know you anymore." The blond haired girl, Arisa chimed in quickly.

"I am sorry." Nanoha sighed and looked out at the veranda that the three were on. "I have been really busy, but I think it will be ending soon. Then I can spend a lot more time with you both."

Suzuka sighed at Arisa and Nanoha both, before taking a sip of her tea and looking out at the estate. Suzuka and Arisa both came from very rich and influential families. This was reflected by the shear size of both their homes. Size was probably the only thing that the two had similar though. Suzuka's home was almost jungle like the way it was set up, and was a near haven for several breeds of cats and kittens. Arisa's was clear of most trees and foliage, and home of several breeds of dogs.

Really if the girls didn't have Nanoha holding them together, they would never have been friends at all. That was part of the reason why they were so frantic when Nanoha drifted away from them both. Privately, both girls blamed Nanoha's distance on Ranma. This of course made the boy slightly uncomfortable around the two, and prevented them from actually getting to know the boy.

"See that you do," Arisa finally said primly as she leaned back and sipped at her tea. Her next words were softer. "We miss you."

"I miss you too." Nanoha sighed and looked at her tea guiltily. She probably wouldn't have visited them for some time if Genma hadn't issued the ultimatum about training. She didn't even have Raging Heart with her right now. Yuno was keeping it at home until the end of the day.

"Enough serious talk!" Arisa waved a hand and smiled brightly. "Suzuka, how are the kittens doing?"

"Ohh, they are all still so cute!" The purple haired girl giggled. "And the poor gray one that got injured when Nanoha got hurt has actually started running around the estate grounds and chasing the birds."

"I think it decided to copy Nanoha." The blond haired girl giggled.

"Huh?" Nanoha jerked up from her contemplation.

Both of Nanoha's friends giggled. The topics drifted from Suzuka's cats to class, and to a few other things. Nanoha had to deflect a few questions about Ranma, and about her 'family matters', it was a very pleasant other than that though. One matter though, made Nanoha perk up in sudden interest.

"You found an injured animal?" Nanoha blinked at Arisa. "What does it look like?"

"She's a very beautiful red colored dog." Arisa looked to the side of the mansion in the direction the dog was staying. "We can't tell her breed, but she is really weak right now. The vet says it's like something shot her."

"Red dog?" The brown haired girl gulped and looked off in the same direction as Arisa. "Can we see it?"

"If you are careful." The blond haired girl waved and got to her feet. "This way."

Nanoha got to her feet, doing her best to conceal her sudden suspicions. Suspicions which were proven soon afterwards, because the dog that Arisa had saved was Fate's familiar, Arf. Nanoha's heart near broke at the depressed and defeated aura that the familiar had. The dog was barely moving inside her cage, part of it was obviously from the injures, but the rest of it was from something else.

"She looks so sad." Suzuka finally stated as she looked at Arf.

"We think it's owner abandoned it or something." Arisa looked at the cage with a frown. "She is a really beautiful dog though."

"Yes, she is." Nanoha looked at Arf and looked away.

The girl had to get away to speak with the TSAB, something had changed with Fate, and she needed the ships help to find out what. It took far to long in her opinion to extract herself without getting her friends angry, but the girl managed, and finding a deserted alleyway she contacted the dimensional space ship, and got herself transported to the bridge, just in time to catch all the excitement that Fate and Ranma caused to the ships sensors with their combat.  


* * *

It felt strange somehow to be witness to this. Ranma grit his teeth as a pulse of pain made him wince. Watching the two girls look at each other through the shattered building he couldn't help but feel as if he was intruding on something intensely personal. The boy lacked the experience to really diagnose what was happening, but it didn't matter really. He knew in his heart that this was important.

A shame that he couldn't help anymore. Ranma staggered back to his knees as Fate's eyes slowly grew glassy and a few tear trickled down her face. The boy took a deep shuddering breath, and was surprised to find his own face wet.

The thunder from above crackled once, and then rain began to come down in sheets as the wind blew hard and vicious, and Fate howled like a damned soul as Bardiche lit up impossibly bright.

"Thunder Smasher!" Bardiche near yelled.

Ranma had to shield his eyes as the blast echoed across the cityscape. This was beyond her normal controlled demeanor. Something had finally snapped in the girl. When the blast died down, he saw that both Fate and Nanoha were out of sight.

"Well." Ranma grit his teeth and got to his feet once more. "Damn."

"Hold still." A voice made Ranma turn, and Yuno smiled briefly at Ranma as his small generic staff lit up. "I don't know the real potent healing magic, but I can assist in your recovery."

"Thanks."

* * *

"Round shield." Raging Heart intoned.

The sky in front of Nanoha lit up, and Bardiche hissed as it struck the shield. Lightning flashed in eerie counterpoint, revealing Fate's face, a horrid twist of pain, frustration, and something like despair. Both girls darted apart, and a half dozen round spheres of energy blitzed across the sky. The entire landscaped rippled once as the barrier separating the battle from the real shifted.

The sky lit up in fireworks as the two girls flashed across it. Lightning struck, and the storm seemed to intensify as Fate fed more and more power into her strikes. Unable to catch Nanoha in a decisive strike up close, Fate backed away and channeled her power into Bardiche.

The sky roared as lightning struck across the clouds, and the wind seemed to intensify, and another bright lance of yellow magic lanced across the sky, just barely missing the frantically dodging Nanoha The girl dropped from the sky, turning in midair and aiming Raging Heart through the rain to where she knew Fate was.

"Divine Buster."

The replying beam was just as bright, pink, but deadly, and it roared as it swept towards Fate. The blond haired girl near snarled as she held out Bardiche in front of her and stopped the strike in it's tracks. The beam hissed and dissipated, and Fate re-aimed Bardiche, only to twist and slash at a swiftly moving Nanoha.

The white clad girl swept downwards, under the swipe, and smiled at Fate as she got close enough to touch the black clad girl. The buildup of power she had been gathering released forward, and struck Fate right in the stomach, knocking her back.

Fate barely felt the impact. She was numb to everything, even the rage was rapidly dissipating into a blank despair as she flew back. She was nearing the end, Ranma had nearly finished her, and on a good day she might have matched and beaten Nanoha. Not now. That black despair of failure threatened to consume her. For a brief moment she contemplated giving up.

Then Ranma's face flashed in front of her. Her lost familiar, Arf. Her mother's smiling face, slowly fading away to the cruel look as she raised her whip shaped device. Fate grit her teeth and just looked where she knew Nanoha was. She didn't care anymore yes, but she was not going to lose. Not now. Not for her mother, not for anyone else. She was going to fight because she wanted to, what happened after that didn't matter.

Fate let herself fall downward, towards the concrete street. As she fell spheres of yellow light began to appear around her, orbiting and crackling. The rain poured, and the thunder cracked impossibly loud.

In the air Nanoha gulped and began to dodge frantically as what felt like hundreds of yellow spheres began to streak to her position. Finally, unable to stay where she was she darted downwards, nearby the buildings, and right where Fate wanted her.

The beam of light lanced through the building to Nanoha's right, striking her barrier jacket with terrific force, and sending her into the neighboring building. The wall didn't stand a chance, and the girl was knocked inside, and out of the pouring rain.

In swept Fate, Bardiche raised high, and Nanoha was forced to dodge to the side. The weapon swept down and after her with deadly speed. It drove through a wall, through the desks and nearly through Nanoha. The girl fell to the ground in a tumble, and for a moment she looked at Fate.

She looked beautiful. Wet, miserable, and her eyes were so very sad, but in that moment Nanoha would have told you that she had never been more lovely. The beautiful death.

Nanoha didn't let that stop her though, she rolled as Ranma had taught her, and swung Raging Heart like a club, knocking Bardiche off course, and letting her get to her feet. Raging Heart lit up, and she aimed it.

"Divine Buster." The beam blast glanced off Fate's shoulder, and the girl spun with the impact.

Nanoha just barely avoided the scythe impact as she flew up and out of the hole she had made. She turned to see Fate gathering her magical power up once more. Nanoha just grit her teeth through the rain and the aches and the exhaustion.

"This is it Fate!" She spoke the first words since the battle had begun.

"So be it." Fate replied with little emotion.

Both beams struck midair, right above the abused building. The entire top of it was vaporized in the resulting explosion, and the winds roared as more magic was poured into both attacks. The clash was dead even though, and the beams dissipated against each other without there being a clear victor.

That was fine with Fate. She utilized the backlash to conceal her positions change to right behind Nanoha. Her scythe dropped down, and stopped in mid air. The magical binding twisted around the girl tightly, and Nanoha dropped to the now devastated building and turned, a spell already on her staff.

"No!" Fate struggled, but the binding held just enough for Nanoha to smile sadly, and speak.

"Starlight Breaker." The words were soft, but the attack was not.

This strike was beyond the previous ones, and lanced into the sky with a magnitude beyond the previous attacks. It struck dead on, right into the still struggling Fate. Thunder roared once, and the rain stopped as Fate's blackened and unconscious form dropped from the sky. Nanoha flew forward frantically to catch the girl, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

Ranma smiled as he caught the blond haired girl. He looked beat up still, but he could move without serious pain now. The boy chuckled as he looked at the devastation the two girls had wrought, holding Fate's body close.

"You girls really know how to have fun."

Nanoha just giggled herself as she got to Ranma's side. She looked a fair bit singed herself. Yuno just shook his head from behind Ranma. All three of them looked at Fate, and slowly, ever so slowly the girl stirred.

"Bardiche?" It was half question half request.

Yuno held up the weapon from the side. "I have it here. You can have it back when we talk with Lindy."

"I..." Fate looked at the three children, and felt herself let go. A few tears trickled down her smudged face. "I am glad."

"Don't worry Fate." Nanoha smiled warmly.

"We have you." Ranma shifted his grip on the girl.

Yuno smiled up at the sky and gripped Bardiche gently. "And we can help."

The girl felt herself slowly drift into unconsciousness, looking at the people she had fought. Strangely she wasn't worried, and that black despair that she had felt, just wasn't there.

Nanoha grinned warmly at her friends and silently corrected herself. Before Fate had been beautiful, but right now, right now was beyond that. It was near perfect.

* * *

"Aww, they are so cute!!" Lindy gushed as she looked at the ending of the recorded battle. "Very nice display of capabilities form all corners as well."

"Humph." Genma grunted as he manipulated the touch screen. The technology these people used was fantastic. Sure there were certain places even the universal translation spells couldn't overcome, but the rest of the information displayed was enough to give him a lot more information than Lindy probably knew. "I foresee remedial training for my boy though. He has an idea to deal with that whole flying advantage, but he hasn't had time to properly implement it."

"I look forward to seeing that." Lindy commented with a smile. "Later, we must speak about having you and your child join our ranks."

"Maybe." Genma hedged, glancing at the screen and rewinding it to a few points of interest. "The boy still has far too much training to go through before I even think about having him take up a career."

"Another time then." Lindy sighed and watched Genma manipulate the scenes.

The man was almost frightening the rate he deciphered the various spells they had. If he was bad though, Ranma was worse. At times Lindy found herself slightly worried at the potential she saw, but at others.. If she could have both the Saotome men join the TSAB, combined with Nanoha and Fate she could foresee a very bright future for the entire organization.

"So what are you going to do with the blond one?" Genma finally asked as he turned off the screen. "And that dog of hers?"

Lindy smiled and gestured to an aid for some tea. "We have Arf in full medical care. She is still fading in and out, but we foresee her being fine within the week. Fate is cooperating fully right now, and the picture we have gotten isn't very good."

"She's a victim of abuse." Genma shrugged and picked up a teacup. "I could tell that just by the way she moved. A lot of non-battle injuries. She flinches when an adult gets near her too." Genma sighed and held out the cup, and watched the steam waft off the liquid.

"You can tell that just by looking at her." Lindy raised an eyebrow, impressed. "It corroborates what little we managed to get out of her. She honestly doesn't know as much as we would like, and the information we have looked up doesn't match up right with her story. We think that her 'mother' has been feeding her misinformation."

Genma gave a shrug as he looked at the office the two were talking in. It had been nearly a day since the battle between the three children, and Ranma had refused to leave Fate's side. Considering that Nanoha insisted the same thing, the situation might have gotten a little tense. Instead Lindy had called in Genma, and the man had swiftly browbeaten the children into at least getting themselves cleaned up and treated.

"I don't think kindly of a person who would send a child into a situation like Fate found herself in the first place. The girl found herself surrounded on all sides with no assistance." Genma put the teacup down and frowned. "Whoever sent Fate either had no tactical sense or wanted Fate to fail."

"Who knows." Lindy sighed and set down her teacup as well. "Thank you for your assistance and insight at least."

"Bah!" Genma waved a hand. "You got my boy in this mess, I might as well be sure that he at least gets out of it with all his limbs attached."

"Of course." Lindy giggled a bit and held out a picture. "Here is that copy you wanted of them."

"Thank you." Genma bowed slightly and looked at the picture with a wicked smile. "It is never too early to gather blackmail pictures."

"They looked so cute sleeping like that that I couldn't resist." Lindy got up and gave Genma a nod. "I should get back to the bridge. We still have more places to search for the jewel seeds."

"Of course." Genma got to his feet and blinked as the entire ship shook, knocking Lindy off her feet. The man lunged and grabbed her quickly, but there was little time for anyone to speak as alarms began to ring loudly.

Lindy paled slightly, but gathered herself and began to run. Genma following.

* * *

"Moderate damage on two surface decks, minor structural damage on all floors. Estimated time of repair is two days." The technician rattled off as Lindy got onto the bridge. "Sensors have been knocked off alignment, and our weapons array is offline until the engineers can get to it."

The woman sat herself at the captains chair quickly, and began to call up various displays. "Our attacker?"

"Unknown, descriptions match The Garden of Time, but sensors are having trouble pinpointing it though the dimensional interference." The technician frowned as she called up another screen. "The attack wasn't directed only at us though."

The main screen lit up, showing a massive typhoon in progress. Several dozen waterspouts began to form, and were just as quickly shut off as a beam of light lanced out and bisected each of them. The light seemed to catch on something each time, but it was difficult to tell.

"The jewel seeds." Lindy breathed. "She poured magic into the sea and caused them all to go off at once, and is gathering them."

"We lack the tools to intercept her at this time." The woman at the main board frowned and looked up at Lindy. "We are however near a full lock on the Garden of Time. We should be able to get a full scrying and teleportation lock soon."

"What's going on?" Ranma yawned as he stumbled in the room.

"Not now boy." Genma muttered and knocked him gently on the head.

"Mother.." Fate looked at one of the screens showing the Garden of Time, and backed away slowly.

"We are here Fate, don't worry." Nanoha smiled and hugged the blond haired girl from behind.

"Prepare platoons three and four for departure." Lindy gave the command and frowned at the screen. "We don't know exactly what Precia is attempting, but if she activates the jewel seeds she has gathered she could potentially destroy half this sector."

Ranma frowned and backed out of the room slowly while everyone else was focused on the screens. No one noticed the boy, more concerned about the massive spiked ship that was the Garden of Time.

"Our scryers have managed to get a full lock, bringing it onscreen."

A woman with black hair appeared on the screen, smiling evil as she rested her head on one hand. She was seated almost nonchalantly on the throne, looking almost amused by the scrutiny. Above her head several jewel seeds floated serenely.

"Send the platoons."

"Such a disappointment." Precia spoke, confident that the scrying was focused on her. "I wonder, is my darling little failure there with you?"

Genma grimaced and looked at Fate's trembling form. At her side Nanoha held the girl tightly. Further behind Yuno looked just as worried, only now did Genma realize that his son was missing.

"I suppose it doesn't matter does it?" Precia's smile widened manically. "I mean you have probably already figured it out. I wonder, did you decide to dissect her? Or perhaps just terminate the little abomination?"

"What is she talking about?" Nanoha asked Genma. The man grimaced and looked like he wanted to plug Fate's ears.

"Momma?" Fate looked lost and confused.

"Darling little Fate, I always wanted to tell you something." Precia got to her feet, and watched as a dozen men began to charge into the room, surrounding her and pointing lethal looking staffs at her. "I always wanted to tell you how much I HATED you." The room lit up with lightning, blasting every man off his feet and knocking them all out.

"Such a little fake." Precia took a deep breath and held her staff tightly as she began to walk out of the room, the scrying following her. "You could never match up to my darling little girl. I should have strangled you when you first looked at me with those little monster's eyes."

"Yoink!"

Precia blinked in confusion. One moment the jewel seeds were in front of her, the next moment they were gone. Quickly the woman turned around, and spotted a running boy in a torn and dirtied gi. In his hands he held every jewel seed that she once had.

The shriek of outrage made Ranma twist and stick out his tongue. "Take that you old hag! You talk too much!" The replying thunderbolt singed him, but missed as he ran away.

"Was that Ranma?" Nanoha blinked at the screen with wide eyes.

Fate looked wide eyed as well. From near total breakdown, the intervention of the boy had so surprised the girl that she found herself smiling as her mother shrieked again in outrage.

"You think this will stop me?!?" Precia howled and invoked a spell. "Kill him!"

Hundreds of stone shapes began to meld from the ground, and formed into large foreboding metal robots. From there the screen blanked out, drawing cries of outrage from all the watchers.

"Get me another lock on!" Lindy commanded. "Chrono, you are going to lead the next platoon. We need to get to Ranma before that woman does." Lindy turned to the other people in the room. "If you want to go, get to the pad immediately."

"Yes!" Fate and Nanoha replied in unison.

Genma growled to himself and began to walk out of the room as well. He was going to rescue his boy, and then put him on at least a few months of punishment training.

* * *

The machines were large, human shaped, but around twice the size of a normal person. Each of them were patterned off old medieval armor types, and each and every one of them had cold metal weapons in their hands. It was an army that wouldn't have been out of place centuries years ago, now more massive, and far more deadly and unfeeling.

"I don't have time for this." Genma finally growled as he surveyed them all.

"These are simple robots." Chrono informed the crowd around him. "They are all on a search pattern for Ranma, but with their limited intelligence they are just guarding specific points while the rest wander around."

"That's fine then!" Nanoha flew up into the air and aimed Raging Heart.

"Bah!" Genma charged forward. "Take out the ones in back then!"

The mechs might have been old looking, but no one faulted them on speed. They responded near instantly to the attack, several of them swinging down their halberds in the places where Genma's body once was. Another person would have been chopped in two. In this case the hit nothing but air, and one robot found it's leg shattered, and the massive halberd it once had in Genma's hands.

The back row of mechs found themselves rapidly destroyed one after another from the magical barrages, and another robot was slammed to the ground, bisected by it's own halberd. The field lit up in magical and mundane explosions. One machine fell, and another quickly took it's place, only to be cut down. The parts shattered and broke under the onslaught, and in little time what was once an army of mechanical nightmares was just scattered bits of scrap.

Taking a brief moment to be sure that no one was injured, Chrono motioned to the rest of the people to continue on. Genma grunted from the side and hefted a massive axe that he had appropriated from one of the mecha.

"Why are you carrying that?" Yuno finally asked as they began to move into tighter corridors.

"Need something to cut with.." Genma chuckled slightly as he swung the massive axe through a mecha without pausing. " 'Sides I think it would make an interesting souvenir." Considering the weapon was twice his size it was almost humorous how easily the man was able to wield it.

"Regardless, do you know where Ranma might have gone?" Chrono was all business in this endeavor.

"Up," Genma replied simply. "With the way these things are arranged he would have wanted to find a small place up high where he could run circles around these things." An explosion ripped through the halls as Fate blasted one of the mecha in their way.

"This way then." Fate looked determined, and for the first time since she had met Nanoha she had no shadows of sadness in her eyes.

The group ran, through the halls, and the dozens of mindless, near endless robots. Genma cleaved them, broke them, and twisted them into trash. Yuno held them, Nanoha blew them up, and Fate sliced them down while Chrono covered the rear and blasted the ones to the side with precise, efficient, and deadly shots..

As they ascended a massive spiral staircase they were assaulted by the more advanced robots. Ones with wings and cannons. Yuno's shield made short work of their attacks, and Chrono's shots destroyed them rapidly. Then the reinforcements arrived, in another swooping host of winged robots, and a massive crash from the side.

The wall to the side cracked and shattered as a massive robot broke into the room sending debris everywhere. It was a massive thing, easily the size of a house with cannons for arms, and one massive cannon as it's main weapon.

"Divine Shooter." Nanoha was quick to act, sending dozens of pink blasts into the beast.

"Photon Lancer." Fate added her fire in the form of dozens of yellow spheres.

The attacks flew and crashed into a transparent shield. Both girls frowned, and were forced to fly back as a massive blast replied in kind, blowing out the side of the fortress. On the ground, Yuno grit his teeth and shielded against the next wave of flyers while Chrono picked them off as quickly as possible.

"Allow me to show you how a Saotome fights." Genma made himself known from halfway up the stairs.

The man dropped right onto the robot's shield, and the thing lit up in an impossibly bright flash as the axe that he had been carrying blurred impossibly fast, striking again and again with speed beyond human. The shield flicked, and suddenly stopped, and Genma's axe struck at the main cannon, embedding itself to the hilt. Genma pulled mightily as he dropped, and the axe came free with a screech.

Nanoha and Fate didn't need an invitation. Their next blasts of magic flew forth, massive and powerful. Without the shield the machine had little chance and was melted into slag. The last wave of flyers fell to Chrono and Yuno, and the party ascended quickly.

"Impressive, " Chrono commented as he ran.

"Bah," Genma scoffed, and stretched slightly as he jumped a ruined area. "I am getting old, that shouldn't have taken half as long."

Nanoha and Fate giggled slightly as the flew along, Yuno close behind. Fate directed them down one barren corridor, and there they saw it.

Dozens of robot parts were torn and littered across the hallway, with massive gouging claw marks streaked across the walls. The destruction was disturbingly familiar to Nanoha, but the rest of the part was slightly disturbed at how the debris was shredded in some areas.

"Not again." Nanoha gulped and looked around the area for a sign of Ranma.

"Oh..." Fate took a moment to actually figure out what her friend was referring to, but she gulped as well.

"What is it?" Chrono finally asked, as one by one the surrounding people put the pieces together.

"The Neko-Ken." Genma growled slightly to himself and dropped the axe on the ground and felt one of the gouges. "There weren't any cats to set him off, so the jewel seeds must have done it."

"He did it once earlier, he went all shadowy and black and tried to attack us," Nanoha finally explained.

"The shadow manifestation." Chrono showed the first real emotion that day as he frowned deeply at Genma. "A result of intense emotional trauma along with an intense magical source. The best guess I have is Ranma tried to deliberately invoke it considering where it happened."

"It doesn't matter. My boy is near unbeatable like this, and with the added power, it might be best to let him run it out of his system." Genma looked to another gouge. "I haven't seen him do this ever, even at his worst."

"Jewel Seeds are self perpetuating." Yuno shook his head, and clutched his generic looking staff tightly. "They gather energy from the natural dimensional tides and store it. We don't know how they do it, but we do know that if you tap it correctly you can last for years."

"We stopped him before," Nanoha commented nervously.

"With one seed," Fate added.

"So we have a near unstoppable mage with an unknown amount of power. To top it all off we have no idea how long it will last." Chrono sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Any ideas?"

"To be honest, until we see how the seeds manifested we have little idea on how to seal it." Yuno replied, and frowned. "Unfortunately I haven't seen the first manifestation, so it's nearly impossible to tell what happened."

"I suppose then I have no choice." Genma sighed and began to walk forward. "I will not lose my boy to some magical toy." The rest of the group quickly nodded and followed cautiously.

The next room probably didn't even deserve the name. It was more a large platform to nowhere with an eternal drop into nothingness and no ceiling. The physics of the dimensional barriers meant that with the proper spells one didn't need an air tight seal, but the very space surrounding the area could get maddening as time went by.

There was Precia, and Ranma. Precia was bloody, heaving and coughing blood from a combination of sickness and injuries. Across from her was Ranma, looking near pristine aside from the missing top. Across the boy's collar bone and forehead the jewel seeds glowed and flashed with ominous power.

The woman screamed with exertion, and a massive pillar of lightning lanced forward from her palms, and dissipated against something black. As the lightning crackled, it illuminated the massive feline hovering above Ranma. It had none of the shapeless, ever shifting, ethereal quality of the previous form. This one was solid in a way that way that sent chills down everyone's spine.

Without Ranma moving a muscle, the cat swung down with blinding speed, and batted Precia away like a rag doll. As the woman tumbled away the massive shadow seemed to look at the party with blood red eyes. It made no moves, but it watched with predatory patience.

"Mommy?" Fate approached Precia's downed form. "Mother.." She sighed and looked at her mother.

"Yuno, can you do a full bind and seal?" Chrono asked quietly.

"Yes," The boy in tanned clothing nodded.

"Bind Precia, and we can have her teleported out of here." Chrono turned to the immobile Ranma. "This behavior is rather different from the previous time."

"It's a lot more territorial I think." Genma finally commented as the boy seemed to watch the girls move towards Precia out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeee!" Fate screeched and fell backwards as Precia sent a small lance of magic at her just barely missing her head.

"Accursed child." Precia coughed out blood, and got her feet slowly.

She looked as if she was going to say more, but Yuno finally completed the binding, and several bands of light wrapped around her form, and a magical array appeared under her. The circle flashed once, and the woman slumped to the ground. Shortly thereafter she was teleported out.

"One thing down." Chrono stated and looked to Ranma. "Now for the hard part."

"Fate?" Nanoha's voice was soft.

"She was still my mother." The blond girl sniffed softly and got to her feet. Bardiche clanked as she gripped it. "Even with all the hate, and abuse, some part of me still wanted her love."

Nanoha hugged the blond girl in response. "It's ok. You have friends here to help."

"I know." Fate looked at the still immobile Ranma. "But first we have to help him."

"Can you seal him like you did Precia?" Genma asked Chrono softly.

"If we can get him to stay still, maybe." Chrono replied just as softly. "Somehow I doubt it would be that easy."

Finally Ranma seemed to get tired of being stared at, and turned to fully face the rest of the people. His face looked serene almost, there was no conflict, no indecision, and no intelligence in his eyes. The jewel seeds glittered and flared at random intervals, and his form seemed to blur at the edges. He leaned forward ,bared his teeth in the mockery of a smile, and hissed.

"Out of time!" Chrono called out, and began to give out commands. "Nanoha, Fate, try to deal with the manifestation. Yuno and I will try to seal him, and Genma try to restrain Ranma."

Genma shot forward, and dodged the swiping paw of the massive shadow creature. Twin blasts of magical power impacted into it, and the beast seemed to shimmer slightly before facing the irritations. Ranma himself never the macabre smile as he twisted and lashed out at Genma, sending a spray of blood across the floor as his strike glanced across the man's arm. Genma didn't hold back, and struck out impossibly fast, each strike missing by inches as the boy lashed out again and again, sending pieces of clothing, and blood flying.

Nanoha and Fate had better luck, though not by much. The cat was large, and fast, but it couldn't fly. Both girls kept it at a distance and confused it by swooping into its sight and blurring away.

"Divine shooter."

"Photon Lancer."

Raging Heart's and Bardiche's attacks didn't have much affect though. The massive siege attacks that were their trademarks made the thing flicker, and the smaller attacks just seemed to irritate the thing. Fate and Nanoha twisted and dove around the thing while peppering it with as much attacks as they could, but the strikes did little.

"We need him still." Chrono stated as he and Yuno evoked a binding.

The chains shot up into the air, and fell into pieces as the boy gestured to his sides with impossible speed. Genma, seeing this grimaced heavily and darted forward again, the boy dancing just out of reach.

"He's just playing with us!" The man called out, and ducked back.

His top was a shredded mess, but his skin while bloody was still intact. The area surrounding the boy seemed to swirl into clawing shadows, and Genma disappeared into it. Moments later the shadows burst, and the man reappeared, his clothing in tattered, and breathing heavily. He didn't allow this to stop him though, and charged even as another set of chains lifted into the air, and was shredded mercilessly.

Fate and Nanoha both frowned and darted away as the cat pounced at them, missing by inches. The girls responded like they had been working together for years, darting under the thing with both weapons alight. They gleamed, and a massive blast of pink and yellow shot up and right into the cat's stomach, bisecting it in two.

For the first time in battle Ranma flinched, and a single seed went dark. The boy jumped to the edge of the platform, Genma following. The shadows seemed to surge and crest, and then suddenly half the world seemed to go black as a tidal wave of shadow erupted into the air. Countless red eyes opened and began to separate into twisted mockeries of cats. The only sign of Genma was a strip of white and bloody gi.

"Mr. Saotome!" Nanoha yelped as she looked for the man.

"He isn't playing anymore." Chrono finally said.

The cats yowled and circled the party. It was like facing the incoming tide, there was no end to the creatures, and each and every one of them looked angry. The trembling mages got back to back for the inevitable charge, and on some unseen signal every creature surged forward, and at them all.

"Now damnit!" Genma yelled, startling everyone.

There at the edge, a bloody Genma held his son in a sleeper hold. The boy's claws arced up and dug deep, and blood flew, but the grip held. For a moment the tide of cats held still, and then was knocked back as Fate and Nanoha's attack lanced forward, devastating the ranks of demonic looking shadow creatures.

Chrono and Yuno evoked their magic frantically as Genma's arm twitched, and was flayed to the bone by the increasingly frantic possessed Ranma. The boy hissed, and black shadows began to inch up his body. The shadows hissed and spat and bit, but the only thing the man did was grit his teeth and hold the boy.

The ground beneath Ranma lit up in a magical circle, and one by one went dark the jewel seeds went dark, falling to the ground with echoing and strangely loud pings.

Ping.

Ping.

Ranma slumped to the ground with the seeds.

"Jewel Seeds Sealed." Chrono's device spoke sedately.

"Good." Genma groaned and ripped the rest of his gi top off, wrapping it in a tourniquet around his arm.

"Ranma!" Nanoha and Fate sped to the boys side, and checked him over frantically.

"Is he ok?" Yuno called out as he ran to their side.

"He's sleeping." Fate smiled at the boy.

"Silly boy," Nanoha said fondly.

* * *

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The magical version of a intensive care ward wasn't that different than a scientific one just looking at it. Sure there were a few floating glowing symbols, but the parts were identifiable, and the machines that monitored life signs were fairly obvious. Since this was a space ship, the hospital consisted of a row of beds with several machines y each of them.

On one of the beds lay Precia. She was pale and unconscious. To the side lay Arf, and seated on a nearby bed sat Fate. The blond haired girl just sat. Nothing else. No proclamations of love or hate. No questions. No emotion.

Sometime between now and when her mother had shot that final shot at her Fate had let go. Some part of her would still love her mother, but now, at Precia's death bed the girl found herself without sorrow. So here she sat watching the heart monitor. Her mother had little time left, and would probably be unconscious when the time finally came.

_ "We found a life support capsule containing a small girl in the room behind the throne room." _Chrono's voice echoed in her memory. _ "From the records we have been able to decipher your mother had an accident experimenting in forbidden arts and afflicted both her and her child with a wasting disease. The girl, being younger was affected far worse, and is in stasis at the point of death. So Precia cloned her daughter, and named her Fate. We think at that point a mania started to set in from the affliction and she saw you as a demon instead of her daughter."_

'So every memory I have of her kindness is nothing but the memories of a dying child.' Fate sighed as she looked at her mother's still form. 'Even still, some part of me wishes that she looked just once at me with something like kindness.'

The machine beeped on. In time it would stop. Not right now though. Not right now.

* * *

"And after that you will be doing push ups until your arms fall off." Genma paced across the gym in the dimensional ship. "And after THAT you have a date with a set of chains and a wooden stick. I found a new technique that will not only toughen you up, but will be nice and painful." He paused there and growled. "I didn't say stop!"

"Yes papa!" Ranma continued to pull himself up.

Ranma's training session had apparently drawn quite the crowd. Right now the boy was suspended upside down with his feet tied to an overhanging bar. The boy was already drenched in sweat, and Genma showed no sign of letting him stop anytime soon.

"How long has he been doing that?" One of the spectators asked someone nearby.

The reply was swift. "About half an hour, and he was running full sprint for about an hour before that."

The questioner whistled softly. "Tough little bastard."

"I would ask to learn if I thought I would be able to walk afterwards," One of the men commented with a laugh.

* * *

"Nanoha!" Arisa waved at the brown haired girl. "You look so much better right now."

Suzuka looked at her friend and smiled as she caught up to them. "I didn't realize how worried you looked before. Did you get that family business done?"

"Ah!" Nanoha smiled brightly and nodded at her friends. "I didn't realize it, but it's like a great weight has been lifted. Everything is going to be fine."

All three girls smiled and began to walk into their school. For Nanoha it was like today was brighter somehow. Fate was getting better, and Ranma was fine. Genma was being strict as always, and Chrono had given Nanoha a lot to think about.

Fate was not totally off the hook. Since she was Mid-Childen, she was subject to their laws, and she had committed quite a few crimes in the pursuit of the jewel seeds. Fortunately she was a child, and had done the majority of the crimes under purview of her mother. She would most probably get pardoned after a court review.

Nanoha herself was thinking about becoming a full fledged mage in the service of the TSAB. It was a very big decision, but Nanoha felt that it would fit her. In time she would tell her parents, but right now she wanted to get back to school, and for a few days let the world pass by without worries. Also train herself in magic. Lots of training.

That was another day though. Today was school and friends.

* * *

"I am surprised that Genma let you come here." Fate commented from her place at the railing.

It was a beautiful morning, a perfect day to just sit and watch the waves on the seashore. The sun was shining, and the temperature was just right. Here was a perfect place to say goodbye for awhile.

Fate needed to be judged, and that would happen at her home world. It would be a fairly long process by all accounts, but fortunately it was a near guaranteed that she would get off with little to no punishment. Ranma was actually going with, both as a witness, and because Genma wanted to study the magics that the TSAB practiced.

"Eh, pops is a hard ass, but he likes Nanoha." Ranma made a face as he spoke. "I got extra training until your trial is done anyway. Pops finagled a few magic tutors for me, but I think I can manage to get some time to bug you."

"I am glad." Fate waved as Nanoha came running up. "Hello Nanoha."

"Hi!" Nanoha smiled brightly at the two children. "I am glad we could meet before you both left."

"Heh." Ranma gave a little chuckle and hopped up on the railing between the two girls.

"We will meet again." Fate smiled back at Nanoha. "I am so very glad I met you both."

"I am too, no matter how rude Ranma gets." Nanoha stuck her tongue out at the boy.

Ranma stuck his tongue out back and chuckled. "You know you love me."

Nanoha smiled warmly at the boy and Fate, and tilted her head in thought at the blond haired girl. Reaching behind her head she pulled off her small white ribbons tying her hair and handed them to Fate. "So that you can remember me."

Fate looked touched, and with a soft smile she undid her hair and held out the black ribbons that had been holding it up. "So you can as well."

Nanoha giggled and looked to Ranma as she tied up her hair. "Now what do we do with Ranma?"

"Good question." Fate looked at the boy as well.

Nanoha smirked evilly and pounced at the boy. Surprised the boy found himself pulled off, and pulled into a hug. "Fate, get the other side!"

"Huh!?" Ranma's eyes went wide, and he blushed deep red as both Fate and Nanoha kissed his cheeks. The flash of light and small click of a picture made him yelp in surprise. "Hey!"

"I don't think you need to worry about him forgetting this." Lindy smiled at the children, and waved a picture of the event. "But I am afraid that it's time to go."

"Urk." Ranma replied intelligently.

Nanoha giggled and took a step back. Fate nodded at the girl and began to walk away. Her last sight of Nanoha was the girl waving wildly. Ranma still looked a bit pole axed even as he was teleported up to the ship.

"Miss Lindy, do you think I could get a copy of that?" Fate asked softly as the boy raced off muttering something about soap.

* * *

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There we go. I might made a mistake here and there while uploading and consolidating, but I thats why I have reviewers to assist me. This is arc one done. Arc two will come eventually, but I can't guarantee a date.

On a different note anyone wishing to do fanart for this fic is free to, and if wish I will linky your stuff in my profile as thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN:Let us begin arc two! C&C appreciated.  
_

* * *

"I am glad to be back." Fate commented softly to Ranma as the two waited in the teleportation chamber.

"Heh." Ranma scratched his head and looked Fate to Yuno with a slightly sheepish expression. "Would you believe I wanted to stay there longer?"

"Considering the uproar you caused among the scientists there I have no idea why." Yuno replied flatly. "Just be glad that Genma managed to pry you away, they were talking about spending years examining you."

"Eh, but it was fun making them tear their hair out in frustration!" Ranma chirped brightly.

"For you maybe." Yuno sniped back.

Fate sighed slightly and rubbed her forehead. Yuno was usually a pretty mellow boy, but something about spending large amounts of time with Ranma had made him particularly prickly when he and Ranma were in the same room. As far as she could tell it was all in good fun, but it still irritated the normally sedate girl.

Ranma chuckled at the other boy. "You are just mad that they stuck you in that stuffy library when they didn't need you." Here Ranma paused slightly and smirked widely. "Or maybe it's because you miss Nanoha."

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Yuno smirked widely at Ranma, and watched the boy's smirk disappear. "I mean she was your first kiss wasn't she?"

"Gurk." Ranma's face paled, and Fate giggled. "Wait, what?"

"Well.." Yuno drawled out, enjoying the upper hand. "There are those pictures that Fate has. Of course, I still do remember the wine incident too."

"Wine incident?" Fate asked softly.

"Don't you dare!" Ranma lunged at Yuno.

Yuno laughed out loud and stumbled back as Ranma tackled him. "Nanoha's mom has pictures!"

_"All right, we are in range. Please stand by for teleportation." _A telepathic transmission.

The affect was instantaneous, and chaotic due to the positioning of Yuno and Ranma. Both boys tumbled to the ground, while Fate almost gracefully set down. Taking her time, Fate glanced around at the room while the boys untangled themselves.

Lindy had managed to finagle a fairly decent sized dwelling nearby Nanoha's neighborhood. Really the function of it was half TSAB business and half personal business, but Lindy had told the girl to consider it home. The decorations were impeccable, and seemed to convey both warmth and security. More important were the invisible nodes of sigils and magical arrays to secure and survey the surrounding area. Fate enjoyed it instantly.

_"We are home Nanoha." _Fate sent, and received nothing back. Frowning to herself, the girl sent again louder, and still got nothing. Down on the ground Yuno and Ranma seemed to sense something was up as they both got the their feet.

"I can't get a hold of Nanoha." Fate said out loud.

"Huh?" Ranma blinked and seemed to concentrate hard.

Fate turned her attention from the boy to the link to the space ship. Using Bardiche as a transmitter she spoke. "Excuse me, could you scry where Nanoha is? We can't get into contact with her."

"She's in trouble!" Ranma finally spoke as his eyes snapped open.

Grimacing Fate kept the link open to the ship that had transported them speaking as fast as she could. "Wake Chrono and continue scrying. We need to find out what is happening. Nanoha is in trouble."

Ranma didn't speak, but ran to another room and grabbed a pen, knocking down a lamp in the process.. "Damnit I hate math." He began to scribble out a series of numbers. "Like this? NO." He crossed out the first set and ripped out the paper he had been using. "Like this."

"What?" Yuno looked at the numbers in confusion . "That's like half the equation. What are you doing?!"

"I got half of it up here." Ranma tapped his head. "But I am not nearly as good at this as Fate or Nanoha is." Finally the boy brightened and scribbled something down. "Ok, meet you there!" The boy activated an array and dissapeared.

"Wait!" Fate grimaced as the boy disappeared. "Where is she?"

"I can't make sense of this." Yuno shook his head at the scribbles. "How is the ship doing?"

"Half a minute maybe. They have found hints of a barrier, and should have us coordinates soon." Fate replied, glancing at the sheet.

* * *

Nanoha was not having a good night. Her version of a good night was maybe a bit of training followed by homework and bed. Instead her entire neighborhood had been enveloped in a barrier, and then some crazy girl dressed in red and wielding a hammer attacked her. At first it had been even, or perhaps a bit in Nanoha's favor.

Then the other girl had brutally shattered any illusion that Nanoha would win. Whatever device she used, it was devastating in it's effectiveness. That point was proved quite effectively when it blasted through her best shield, through her device, and through her. It was a miracle she was still conscious.

As she smashed through a window, and through a desk, a part of her wished she wasn't. In the corner of her mind she felt a faint tickle that signaled Ranma's telepathy, but all she could send back was a confused sort of pain.

"I am the Knight Vita of the Wolkenritter, and there is NOTHING that Graf Eisen cannot break." Vita stated as she floated into the room. "Surrender now, and I will try to make it painless."

"Why?" Nanoha gasped out, and tried to get to her feet, clutching Raging Heart. The device had seen far better days. It was cracked, and scuffed, and it's mistress wasn't much better.

"As if I would tell you." Vita raised up her hammer again.

The red headed girl was suddenly flung to the side as a blur impacted into her side with terrific force. The blur paused and Nanoha found herself looking at Ranma, dressed in what looked like a scuffed TSAB uniform. The boy looked at Nanoha and smirked slightly.

"Miss me?" The boy chuckled for a moment, and then frowned as he took in how battered Nanoha looked. "She did that to you?"

"Ranma." Nanoha smiled at the boy and sunk to her knees.

Off to the side Vita growled and pulled herself out of the wall. The tiny red head looked absolutely furious. "I am going to break you into pieces!"

"Under authority of the TSAB, you are under arrest." A soft voice made Vita look to the side, and there floating in the air right outside the building was Fate. The blonde didn't look happy. "Drop your device and give up."

"Next time tell us where you are before you do that." Yuno commented as he passed Ranma and went to Nanoha's side.

"But then I couldn't save the day." Ranma joked briefly, and then looked at Vita. "Better do as she says."

"You want me to surrender?" Vita snarled loudly. "ME!?" The hammer at her side clanged and hissed as it ejected a shell. "I will stop when I am dead, and then I'll get back up and keep going!" She lunged forward, swinging her hammer with terrific force.

The wall to her side blew out, obscuring the girl momentarily. Fate flew back to get a clear shot, but Ranma just stood as the red head came out of the dust, hammer held to the side and swinging with murderous intent. The boy stepped to the side as the girl swung, and was forced to give ground as she kept coming. the hammer swung again, and again, missing him by inches.

Seeing that the attack wasn't working Vita just poured on the speed and rammed the boy, catching him by surprise and blasting him through the wall. Thinking quickly, Ranma gripped the collar of the girl's shirt, and brought them face to snarling face.

Vita slammed her head forward in response, knocking their heads together with bone crushing force. She ascended into the night sky, Ranma still clinging to her. Their heads collided together again as she spun in the air, and both of the fighters growled at each other. Finally Vita managed to pry to boy off by slamming the handle into his side repeatedly.

He dropped like a rock, rapidly disappearing from sight, and Vita was forced to dodge to the side as Fate chose that moment to intervene. A half dozen bolts of yellow magic flew past the dodging Vita, and one impacted on a hastily thrown up shield. The red head just grit her teeth and formed her own attack.

"Schwalbe Fliegen" The device spoke, and hissed as it clanked and ejected a casing.

"Take THIS!" The girl screamed out and slammed her hammer into several small magical balls. The balls solidified and grew into shooting cannon shots, straight at Fate.

The blond girl had no time to dodge, so she threw up a shield, and the shots impacted. The shield cracked ominously from the onslaught. Fate re-aimed Bardiche, and gasped as a sword swung at her device, causing it to crack slightly.

"I am Knight Signum of the Wolkenritter, and I shall be your opponent." The woman swung her sword to a ready position and looked at Fate calmly.

"Hey! This is my fight!" Vita yelled out from her position.

"Our master would be displeased if you returned home injured." Signum replied calmly, her voice easily traveling the distance "Besides, you are still engaged with the boy."

"What?" Vita's eyes widened, and swung her weapon into a blocking position. Her invoked shield just barely blocked and incoming fist, and there was Ranma, smiling brightly. The boy arced into the air gracefully, and was somehow able to twist his body around Vita's return strike. The boy then seemed to melt into a circle.

Feeling the magic twist the space around her, Vita twisted herself around again. There above her was the boy, just out of reach. he seemed to hang in midair as he held out his hand, and a sigil formed in front of him and Vita.

"Movement magic?" Vita was perplexed for an instant, but didn't let that stop her finely honed battle instincts. She got ready to dodge, but the spell already had taken affect.

Placing both hands on his array Ranma grit his teeth and pushed. Like a gunshot the air was forced forward and into the girl, knocking Ranma into the air, and Vita towards the ground.

"One last bit." Ranma grit his teeth and strained his meager magical power. The arrays whirled around him and shot him after the red haired girl.

Vita struck the ground like a meteor, sputtering from the impact but rather unharmed. Only years of battle instinct saved her as she rolled to the side, gripping Graf Eisen. Ranma impacted into the her previous spot, and cratered the already tortured ground.

Vita swung her hammer back, and charged at the boy as the grit and dust from the impact surrounded them both.

* * *

"I have a protection barrier and recovery circle setup." Yuno finally said as he looked at the tattered Nanoha with a fond smile. "So long as you don't break it from your side you should be fine. I have to go help them both fight."

"All right." Nanoha nodded with an almost embarrassed expression. She wasn't used to being rescued, and seeing her friends fight without her was painful.

Yuno jumped off the rooftop he had brought the girl to and floated through the air, high above the rooftops. Off to the side he saw a quick flash of light, and recognized Ranma's weak magical signature behind it. In the air, above them all Fate clashed with another enemy, and Yuno grimaced as he looked. The barrier was interfering with the ship's onboard targeting, so they couldn't port in reinforcements, and the enemy had already gotten more people.

Arf and Chrono were hoping to find the person maintaining the barrier on the outside, but it was far easier to break a barrier from the inside. That was one of Yuno's specialties fortunately, and he began the evocations immediately.

_"Look out!" _Nanoha's mental warning came just in time. On reflex Yuno dropped his previous calculations and threw up the most powerful barrier he could on such short notice.

Even with that he was thrown across the sky and into a high rise. Yuno had spent a fair amount of time brushing up on his combat skills though, and even as the smoke cleared he had several binding circles setup and triggered.

Considering his opponent, the training was going to be tested to it's limit. The smoke from the impact obscured the form for a moment, but when it finally cleared Yuno found himself facing a very angry and very powerful familiar in human form. Male, and covered in a blue body suit, it was fairly obvious what his style was.

Yuno had a brief moment to use a curse heard from Ranma as he threw up another shield. The man shattered the bindings that attempted to keep him away from his target, and slammed his fist into Yuno's shield. The boy found his feet digging into the ground as he was pushed back.

The man used a style very similar to Arf, and Yuno at best had only been able to delay Fate's familiar. Fortunately he could delay for quite a long time. A quick twist of magic, and the two combatants were illuminated in a bright flash of magical might.

Their surroundings shifted and Yuno used the shift to back away. The man charged forward to intercept, and only then realized that they had been shifted to the top of the building as Yuno dropped down the side of the building. The man made to follow, and found himself restricted by yet another set of bindings.

* * *

Up in the sky Fate was fighting her own battle. The pink warrior in armor was not as fast as her, but she hit far harder, and could take far more than Fate could. Only the blond girl's exceptional speed allowed her to have the better of the exchange so far.

"Excellent form," Signum commented as she watched for Fate's next move. "You and your device complement each other well. In another few years you will become truly formidable."

"I'm not done yet," Fate replied as she struggled to get her breathing under control.

"In another time, in another place I would be glad to continue." The pink haired warrior smiled sadly and clutched her device.

With a hiss the area above the hilt clanged and shot out a small cartridge. "Shiden Issen," It invoked and lit up in flame.

Fate braced herself to move, and dodged the first flaming strike. The second as well, but then the third came and she found herself pressed. Too late Fate found herself forced to setup her shield instead of dodging.

The enemy's sword clashed and sparked as it hit the barrier briefly, and shattered it. The devices clashed, and Fate found herself pouring magic into Bardiche to keep from being pushed back, and made vulnerable. The devices sparked, and Bardiche began to crack ominously. Fate could either risk breaking Bardiche permanently, or take the strike. To her it was no decision at all.

She pulled back, and mercilessly Signum used the opening to strike Fate with her sword. The blade tore through her barrier jacket like tissue paper, and near totally broke Bardiche. The girl found herself falling back, and then slammed downwards as Signum finished the job.

Fate fell downwards, and into one of the high-rises. She smashed through the roof, and through the top floor. Only to lie broken, and in a fair amount of pain. Strangely Signum had just pulled back enough not to slice her body into ribbons. The entire front of her barrier jacket was shorn though.

_"FATE?!" _Nanoha's voice echoed in her head.

Fate winced and looked up. _ "__I__ will__ live__." _

_"We need the barrier down." _Nanoha replied back quickly. _ "Yuno?" _

_"Playing chicken with one of their familiars." _The boy's mental voice sounded a bit worried_. "He is too good a tracker for me to lose him enough." _

_" All right, I'll shatter the barrier myself then." _Nanoha sounded matter of fact, but Fate still winced at the thought as she levered herself up out of the rubble surrounding herself. Unfortunately she couldn't think of another way to secure at least a stalemate.

"How are you Bardiche?" She asked softly as she looked up at hole she had made.

"Ready," The device replied, and attempted to shift it's form with an almost torturous clang. It sparked a few times and shuddered as a small piece broke off. "Recovery." The device glowed and began to mend itself.

"Thank you, Bardiche." Fate began to hover, and then shot up out of the hole.

* * *

Vita was mad. Her earlier successes in striking the boy down had been impossible to repeat. Every strike at him missed by mere centimeters as the boy twisted improbably around each strike with an impossibly flexible twist. That was irritating enough, but that damnable smirk he was wearing would just not go away!

The girl howled in rage as she struck out yet again, and found the boy far too close for comfort as he stepped into her reach and slammed his fist into her face. Her armor deflected the strike for the most part, but the force behind it was enough to send her tumbling back.

Not a novice, Vita quickly righted herself, but not before she felt a ghostly touch across her chest. The girl felt her eyes widen and she snarled. "No one touches me there!"

"Not like there's much to touch," The boy replied, his smirk never wavering.

Vita saw red. No, what she had felt before was a simple candle light. Now she was mad. "I will kill you slowly and painfully." Her device clanged and hissed ominously as it shot out a few cartridges.

"I suppose this is a bad time to say that white panties really don't suit you?" Ranma asked with mock innocence.

The reply lacked articulation, but it properly conveyed the absolute rage that the girl had at that point. Unfortunately that played right into Ranma's plan. Vita's rage was a finely honed thing usually, it made her one of the most savage and deadly fighters at close range. At this level of anger, and against this opponent however, it was the equivalent of suicide.

Vita's strike would have smashed a tank into scrap. Instead she found herself spinning through the air from one of the most basic throws in the martial arts. Right into a nearby building. That wasn't nearly enough to put her down, but her first reflexive shield to stop the follow up attack was strangely untouched.

The girl righted herself, still furious, but coherent now. She glared at the boy with fury and gripped her hammer. The device clanged and hissed, but no cartridge shot out. The girl blinked and looked at her device, and quickly rummaged inside her clothing for more of the magic boosters that her weapon used.

"Looking for these?" Ranma tossed a few of the bullet like metal cylinders into the air and caught them. He flashed them once, and made them disappear somewhere on his person.

Vita found her anger disappear in the shock, and found herself smirking at the boy. "You think I need that to kick your perverted little ass?"

"I think a little tomboy like you need all the help she can get." Ranma taunted back.

Vita just screamed as she charged at the boy, not surprised to find him dodge every strike. Purposefully she used one missed strike to slam into the ground and used the resulting debris to cover her ascending into the air. Three spheres of magic appeared in her hand, and she laughed as the boy dodged back and up the side of one of the buildings. Three blasts of magic shot out as Vita slammed her hammer into the projectiles. The strikes hit the building the boy had been using as a launch pad, missing completely, and Vita found herself face to face with the smirking boy.

He slammed into her shield with terrific force, and the red haired girl used the resulting backlash to get another strike at him. This one impacted into his forearms as the boy blocked for the first time all the fight, and Vita blinked as she heard the creaking of bone. She didn't have much time to be surprised as she found herself grabbed and flung downwards.

The girl hit the ground and rolled out of the way of the boy's stomp, swinging out her hammer ungainly to get herself some room. Ranma jumped back and watched as Vita growled and got to her feet. She looked a bit scuffed.

"You don't have any armor." The red haired girl kept her hammer in a guarding position. "I bet you can't even fly with any real confidence either."

"Are ya going somewhere with this?" Ranma raised an eyebrow as he got ready to attack again.

Vita chuckled and swung back her hammer. "And here I thought I had seen everything."

Signum took that moment to interfere. A whip like object dug into the street around a slightly panicked Ranma. The boy ducked and weaved as the magically enhanced weapon struck around him like a living lightning bolt.

"Hey! This is my fight!" Vita called out as she waved her hammer at the floating pink knight.

"As much as I would enjoy allowing you to continue, we have a duty to uphold," Signum replied sternly. "We cannot allow ourselves to play."

"I was just going to finish this too," Vita sighed and looked at her fellow knight. "Drop me a cartridge. This little bastard swiped mine."

"Oh hell no." Ranma's form blurred as he charged at Vita.

Signum darted downwards too, and intercepted the boy's form quickly. Her blade lashed out, and nicked at his dirty and torn uniform. The boy darted around her strikes, and Signum found herself impressed that they boy could read her swordplay enough to avoid the strikes.

"Hey damnit!" Vita yelled out and raised her hammer to attack Ranma.

Fate chose that moment to intervene, and Vita found herself jumping back to avoid a half dozen yellow blasts. The red head snarled and looked into the air at Fate who just aimed the next series of blasts. The knight flew into the air after the girl where they crossed weapons briefly before Fate knocked Vita back.

"I do not believe I have ever seen a style quite like yours." Signum spoke as she weaved around a few strikes.

"I get that a lot." Ranma smirked and ducked under a sword strike.

Vita, using the momentum from Fate's attack set down behind Signum, and with out missing a beat the pink haired warrior tossed out several cartridges. Ranma lunged, and found Signum's sword just barely scraping it's razor edge across his belly, ripping his shirt into pieces.

Then Fate's blasts impacted into the two knights, just barely nicking Ranma's rolling form as the boy recovered from the lunge. The boy recovered from the impact quickly and ran right back to the impact area, slamming into Vita and making her drop all but the one cartridge she had managed to reload. The boy gripped Vita's hammer and used the leverage to open her up to a few well placed kicks.

Vita gasped as the strike impacted her, then smirked as Ranma seemed to pause momentarily. It didn't matter why he was pausing, only that he was long enough for Signum to get into range. She was taken aback when the boy's eyes went unfocused briefly, and then focused on her. The boy's smirk was gone, and his face looked almost feral as he grit his teeth in a snarl.

Ranma kicked out at Vita, sending the girl staggering back, and turned to Signum. He swerved around her strike and pounded his fist into her side.

_"__It__'__s __like__ someone__ threw __a __switch __in __them__." _ Vita sent to her fellow knights as Fate blasted at her with something a bit more powerful than her normal strikes, just barely missing Ranma.

_"The first girl, Nanoha, was stopped from breaking the barrier by Shamal." _Signum grimaced at the thought, and her opponent's now very brutal strikes. He was being far less conservative, and already she had nicked him a few times, but he was taking those hits on purpose to get some very nasty strikes in.

_"If our master didn't need this." _Vita left the thought unsaid. None of the knights liked this job.

The red head sailed through the air, and around Fate's next strike. Her device hissed and clanged as it ejected the one cartridge she had managed to load up, and the girl summoned three small spheres of magic. She threw them into the air, and brought her hammer down into them. The blasts went out, and straight down into where Ranma and Signum were fighting.

The boy flinched from the explosions, and that was all the opening Signum needed. She lashed out with her off hand, and slammed the armor clad fist into his face. Her device clanged and hissed as the boy staggered, and then she lashed out with the sword, striking into his unprotected body.

The boy was knocked back to the ground. He didn't get up.

In the air Fate swooped down towards where Ranma was, and shielded Signum's next strike at the boy. Too late did she realize that the strike had never been aimed at him, and Vita's hammer smashed into her shield from above.

Fate staggered, and she heard a clang.

"I hit nothing vital," Signum stated almost gently as she lashed out with her device aflame.

Fate was weak at this point, and her shield posed no hindrance. Her device broke into two pieces next. Then her barrier jacket was stricken and torn, and then the girl found herself staggering away as she felt pain.

Signum was about to say more, but then she saw a massive pink beam lance into the air. The knight grimaced as she watched Fate stagger, but not fall, and the barrier above them all shatter into a thousand pieces. They couldn't continue their mission without the barrier concealing them.

"We have to go, now!" Signum jumped into the air.

"Damnit." Vita growled as she glared at the night sky. It would only take one lock on by the TSAB, and everything would be ruined.

* * *

_" All right, I'll shatter the barrier myself then." _Nanoha sent as a broadcast, and tapped at the barrier wall surrounding her.

The circle of power burst like a bubble, and the girl took a step out of it as she looked up at the sky. High up, above all the towers and buildings of the cities the sky shimmered slightly as the barrier above everyone shifted. It was this that allowed the mages to fight with impunity, and it was this barrier that needed to be removed.

Nanoha looked at her device with a sad smile. Raging Heart was battered and cracked from Vita's brutal assault, but it was still ready to try. It's determination radiated as it shifted painfully to firing mode. The magic gathering radiated erratically, and Nanoha raised the weapon.

"Raging Heart!" She cried out, and lines of power began to circle around the device.

"Stand by, Ready!" The device cried out in turn.

_"Firing in five." _The lines began to swirl and gather faster.

_"Four." _Raging Hear sparked with magic.

_"Three." _The swirling lines gathered into a sphere.

_"Two!" _Nanoha gripped her staff tighter and braced herself as the magic began to backwash across her skin.

_"O.." _Nanoha was cut off in mid transmission.

_"Nanoha!?" _Ranma's voice cut across the pain coursing through her body, and Nanoha looked down.

There, through her chest was a hand glowing with power. It seemed to be cupping something sparkly. Somehow Nanoha knew that that sparkle was a piece of her body, a very important piece. The hand was gripping it too hard, and was stealing something from her. Involuntarily Nanoha felt herself sending the image of the hand impaling her body, and felt more than heard the absolute rage in reply.

Her body began to numb.

"Master." Raging Heart spoke with what amounted to alarm for it.

_"ONE!" _Nanoha would have howled if she had been using her vocal cords.

These were her friends, the pieces of her soul. She was NOT going to allow anything to stop her. Not while her friends were counting on her. Never. She would die first.

"Starlight BREAKER!" Both girl and device spoke at once, and a brilliant blast of pink light shot out into the sky.

Massive and inspiring the beast raced into the air, and shattered the barrier into a million pieces. The TSAB's communication and scrying tools immediately began lancing across the surrounding area, and on the ground Nanoha looked happy. She then slumped to the ground and into blissful unconsciousness as the hand let go of her soul, and disappeared.

* * *

"Faaaaate!" The orange haired woman flew through the air and wrapped the tiny blond girl in a tight hug. "I was so worried! Meany Chrono made me search outside the barrier while you were in there fighting."

"I am fine Arf." Fate smiled up at her familiar with a gentle warmth. "Everyone else is as well."

"Really?" Arf asked as she smiled back. "Did the little pip-squeak at least get beat up a little?"

"Ranma had a few bruises and a nasty gash," Fate replied as her smile smoothed out. She really didn't understand the way Ranma's relationships degenerated into insults and pot shots with so many people. "Considering the speed of his healing he is going to be fine by the end of the day."

"I gotta remember to poke him a few times before he is fully healed." Arf smiled and let go of Fate. "Nanoha?"

"Her linker core is damaged," Fate frowned here as she made her way down the hallways of the TSAB's space ship. "Fortunately it is something that time can heal, so long as she rests."

Arf sashayed down the hall beside her master. "I suppose that we need to keep an eye on her while this happens."

"Yes," Fate replied simply. She paused at a door, and tilted her head in an obvious mental communication. Nodding she opened it up and stepped inside. "The doctor wants to regularly checkup on her, but so long as she doesn't use magic she should make a full recovery."

Arf nodded, and stepped inside the room beside her master. The room itself was a training hall for mages. The steel floors were covered with padding, and the walls themselves were shielded from inside explosions. In the center of the room were several man shaped training dummies. These were simple simulated target practice, they could be told to move, and had a variety of barrier settings.

Ranma was the only one in there, and he was almost casually striking at one of the dummies. To another person, the strikes would have been impossibly fast, and every impact seemed to rattle the dummy. Only through familiarity would one realize that the boy was barely trying. Considering the glimpse of bandaged beneath his shirt it was amazing that the boy was up and as rambunctious as he was.

"Yo Fate." Ranma sent his fist out and slammed into the barrier again. The boy didn't look happy.

Fate smiled at the boy, but Arf was the one that really was emotional. "Ranma!" The familiar leapt forward and lifted the boy up in a hug.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Ranma yelped in pain, and the literally squeaked as Arf squeezed.

"Arf," Fate spoke finally. "Set Ranma down."

"Yes Fate!" The familiar chirped and dropped Ranma to the ground. The boy flopped and twitched a few times before he got to his feet and glared mildly at Arf.

"You did that on purpose," Ranma accused flatly.

Arf just giggled and began to leave the room. "I am going to go grab Nanoha! Meet you at the repair room!"

Ranma just sighed, and Fate patted the boy consolingly. The blond girl was restraining a smile as she began to leave the room as well, Ranma trailing behind her. "You do know that she still hasn't forgiven you for those pranks."

"Humph," Ranma snorted in reply. "She just can't take a good joke." The boy chuckled and winced slightly as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Of course," Fate replied as she smiled at the boy. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Ranma tilted his head at the blond haired girl. "I wasn't nearly as hurt as Nanoha."

"I know." Fate placed her hands behind her back and slowed so that Ranma was next to her. "That is why I asked. You are mad that it was her."

"Nanoha can take care of herself," Ranma sighed out and let his hands swing down. "That doesn't mean I like having it happen."

Fate nodded and stepped next to the boy as they walked. "Me neither."

Ranma chuckled softly, and soon they were at another nondescript door along the hallway. This room was dimly lit inside, with several screens lighting up and flickering before switching. The chief feature here was a cylindrical pillar of light. Inside were the devices Bardiche and Raging Heart, both of them in their small compact forms. Raging Heart a small circular gem, and Bardiche a small flat triangle shape. This was were the devices came to be fixed and maintained.

"Fate, Ranma." Nanoha smiled at the two and came over to them, Arf trailing behind.

"Ah good!" A female technician perked up from a small cubby hole in the side of the room. "You are both here."

Ranma and Arf moved back a moment to let Fate and Nanoha look at their devices. Both girls looked a little bit worried. The technician pressed a few buttons on a screen suspended in midair, and brought up the digital representations of Raging Heart and Bardiche.

"The actual repairs are done for your devices," The technician stated. "However, they are refusing to complete a self diagnostic." She touched the screen in a few places and brought up what was obviously a large warning screen. "They are requesting parts not part of their original design."

"Huh?" Nanoha looked at the screen and placed a finger to her mouth in thought. "What are they asking for?"

"A cartridge system." The technician brought up another screen detailing the parts that the devices wanted. "Something similar to what the knights were using before. Unfortunately it is untested on Mid-Childen devices, and could be very dangerous as well as unstable."

Fate looked to the cylinder that held the devices. "Both of them are asking for this?"

"Yes." The technician sighed and brought up the error message again. "Best guess is that they felt inadequate about the battle that you two were in, and want to be sure they have the capability to match the knights. The cartridge system allows a mage to use a device to grant a serious boost to their magical attacks. Unfortunately, but Mid-Childen devices have never been designed to use them. If we are going to implement this, we need your permission."

Nanoha and Fate looked at the error message, and eventually they nodded in consent. The technician nodded in turn and brought up a few menus and pressed something on the screen.

"We should have the parts installed within the month." The technician smiled at the girls. "You have very stubborn devices."

"Like their users." Ranma interjected and moved forward to look at the screen. "Ya think I could get a device too?" The boy looked at the technician with a smile.

The woman grimaced and shook her head. "Your magical style renders you incompatible with standard devices, and advanced devices like Bardiche and Raging Heart just take too much magic."

The boy grimaced and smacked one fist into his palm To his side Nanoha placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort. The boy seemed to debate something internally and finally sighed in dejection. "Damnit."

The technician looked a bit confused, but shrugged and turned to her monitor. "If you need something to give you a bit more of a boost, I think we could jury rig a barrier jacket for you at least."

Ranma shrugged and turned away. Nanoha grimaced and followed after the boy, but glanced back at Fate with an unreadable expression. Fate nodded and turned to the technician.

"A barrier jacket is more about how much substance is utilized in the enchantment right?" Fate asked softly as the rest of the group left.

"Sort of." The technician shrugged as she tried to keep it simple. "It's a lot of factors, from area it needs to cover, from the way the cloth or metal is placed to the sigils inscribed on it."

Fate nodded in reply. "I know the basics of barrier jackets. How strong do you think you could make if you make one with double the standard weight?"

"It depends. Barrier jackets are usually fairly light because the G forces the standard mage goes through can make even a the lightest cloth feel like lead." The technician brought up a screen. "You could probably do it fairly well, but anything more than that would half your speed."

"But Ranma doesn't have that problem." Fate smiled as the technician's face lit up in inspiration.

"Now, that sounds like a challenge."

* * *

"You are free to stay here as long as you wish Ranma." Lindy smiled warmly at the boy as he shuffled around the room. "Your father asked me to keep an eye on you, but you are a fairly independent boy so I don't want to keep you confined."

Ranma shrugged as he looked around the room. It was fairly tasteful in it's decorations at least, but he was already mildly annoyed at the circumstances behind his current living conditions. "Stupid pops. Why the heck does he need to stay back and take care of things?" Staying at the house Lindy had bought seemed a bit strange to him, especially without his father.

"Your father has his reasons," Lindy replied with a straight face. 'That you need to be evaluated to be sure that the neko-ken is confined, and that there are no signs of abuse are probably the biggest ones.' She kept that part to herself.

"'Be back by Christmas boy.'" Ranma quoted with a mocking edge to his tone. "Never around when I need him."

"Your father loves you Ranma." Lindy sighed and took a seat on the couch, gesturing for Ranma to sit next to her. "Now why don't you tell me what is going on really?"

Ranma flopped down sullenly and looked at Lindy with suspicion. "Ya know, you aren't my mom, so you don't need to be so concerned."

"I still think of you as a family member," the woman replied with a warm smile. "Much like I think of Fate as one, even if she decides not to accept the adoption offer."

"Bah!" Ranma flopped onto his back and kicked his feet onto the couch. "I'm just pissed that those 'knights' hurt Nanoha and Fate so much, and that I couldn't kick their asses for it."

Lindy leaned back and giggled softly. "Did you know that you near fought the one called Vita to a draw? The number of people that have done that can be counted on one hand."

Ranma shrugged in reply. "She's nasty, but everything about her was close ranged except for that irritating ball trick of hers. If the other one hadn't shown up I would have worn her down eventually." The boy made a face. "Once you get rid of the cartridges she is a lot easier to handle."

"And you don't see that as an accomplishment?" Lindy asked softly.

"I didn't win." Was the flat reply.

Lindy's mouth twitched. "I suppose that can be a let down. Do you think you can win next time?"

The boy was visibly going to boast that he could, but then deflated and became sullen again. "They are smart, and strong. If it were just a matter of training a bit, or changing my tactics, I wouldn't have an issue. I am pretty sure that Vita figured out what was up though, and the other ones probably know about me."

"That is an issue?" Lindy asked as she sat up. Before she had been merely meaning to comfort the boy, but now she was honestly interested. Ranma's analysis was turning out to be very formidable.

"Ya see, their style is all hard stuff." Ranma looked frustrated as he stumbled his way through an explanation. "Get in, hit hard, and get out. If they get hit they can usually take it, but those cartridges make it a lot like the old Battojutsu style. Ya know, first hit wins."

"And how does that make them knowing about you an issue?" Lindy rested her head on her hand and watched the boy visibly piece together his answer.

"That style works good when you want to be lethal right off the bat." Ranma replied finally. "You strike first and hard, and in their case they shatter the defenses. I could get around that because I can read what they are going to do, and they had no clue how I would work. Now that they know about me they can just shift to just wearing me down. Instead of going for the first hit win, they can go for little hits win. The pink one was doing that right off the bat."

"I have seen you run for half a day at full speed Ranma, how could they wear you down?" Lindy asked in curiosity, trying to figure out his reasoning.

"I have no barrier jacket." Ranma replied flatly. "I win by making damn sure that I can beat them down before they can hit me, a lot like the knights work actually, except I am sneaky about it. I can do it versus Nanoha about half the time 'cause she knows what I can do, but Fate I can win almost all the time 'cause I can deal with her speed better than Nanoha's sheer power. With the knights, they have simply too much power for me to make a mistake, and that's tiring."

"So they just play it safe and take advantage of your lack of defense." Lindy nodded. "What about their defenses?"

"It takes a lot to break a barrier." Ranma grimaced in reply. "Nanoha and Fate are simply not that good in hand to hand so once I get close it's over for em. The knights are just good enough that I can't stay still enough to break it."

"And that's why you don't think you could win against them." Lindy sighed and sat back. "And we can't get you a device because you are so different in the way you fight."

"And it will take me years before I can get good enough to just slip in and smash the barrier." Ranma sighed in dejection. "I want to help, but the best I can think of right now is a stalemate."

"That will be enough for now." Lindy smiled at the boy and patted his head. "You are over thinking it. You have friends, and we will figure out something. Go be a little boy for awhile."

Ranma grumbled and got to his feet.

"Right now the people back at home are researching these knights that attacked Nanoha." Lindy spoke as the boy began to leave the room. "We will probably have more information later this week. Have fun until then, and let the adults worry for a change." The woman smiled slightly as Ranma left before sighing and leaning back into the couch. "Now he has me depressed."

* * *

"All right then, we have information!" Lindy looked serious for a change as she held up a little pointer.

The entire group was gathered together for this particular briefing. Fate and Nanoha were sitting primly on the couch, while Arf was laying down at their feet in front of them in her wolf form. To the side were Ranma and Yuno. Ranma was munching on some popcorn, and every now and again Yuno grabbed a handful. In the connected kitchen was Amy, the technician that worked the sensors for the ship. Chrono was assisting her as she cooked up a few things for the people gathered.

"First up, the people that assaulted Nanoha haven't just attacked her. They have been dimension hopping, and hitting at random spots. The targets seem to be Linker Cores." Lindy pointed to various crime scenes which showed several downed TSAB members. "No one has died yet, but several people are in critical condition, and are not expected to recover their magical potential."

"Psst, what's a Linker Core?" Ranma whispered to Yuno.

"Consider it the source of magic." Yuno whispered back. "The knights have been draining the power from the core. It's dangerous, and can be lethal when done to excess."

Lindy ignored the two boys as she continued. "They have identified themselves as the Wolkenritter Knights, and based on that name we have managed to track down a few references to them." Lindy paused here and brought up a screen showing four people. "First is Vita."

The girl shown was the one that Ranma and Nanoha had fought. She was dressed in a red outfit and kilt, and had a rather cute red hat with a bunny on it. That the bunny had Xs for eyes didn't seem to detract from the cuteness. She had a hammer that was about as large as her, though that wasn't that big considering she was about Nanoha's size.

"Vita seems to be the bruiser of the group. She has been observed using a mallet as a weapon, and has probably the best offense of the group, though that's mostly conjecture. She has a serious temper, and can be very reckless in battle. Next is Signum."

The next picture was that of a pink haired woman. She was dressed in a pseudo armor, and had a pink tinted coat on her body. She looked serene in the picture, and had a flaming sword in one hand.

"Signum is likely the leader. She is probably the most dangerous of the group, and has a nice mix of range and melee attacks. Her primary weapon is the sword, but the weapon has been observed to change forms, so don't be too confident. She is probably the most level headed and well rounded of the group. Next up is Zafira."

The screen resolved into a grey haired man with large furry ears. This man was dressed in a skin tight blue body suit. He had gauntlets on his hands, but didn't have any other visible weapons. He didn't look like he needed them, he was large and well muscled.

"Zafira is actually the one we have the best handle on. He is a familiar, and his power and skills are closely aligned with Arf. He is slightly stronger, but not by any noticeable amount. The biggest threat from him is his support from the sidelines. He has the best ranged magic out of all the combat knights. Finally is Shamal."

The screen resolved into a person that none of the people in the room side from Chrono has seen. She was blonde and was in a green outfit complete with a small hat. She had no visible weapon, and was carrying a book in one hand.

"This woman was observed outside the barrier briefly before she managed to get away. Near as we can tell she is pure support, and was responsible for being sure that the barrier was up and keeping us out. Consider her a threat if she is protected."

Lindy sighed as she looked at the screen and at her audience. The popcorn was almost gone, so she needed to get to the important part of the briefing before Ranma got antsy.

"Now for the bad news. We have all this data because the TSAB has encountered these people before." The woman frowned and continued. "They are constructs of a Lost Logia, and have no real free will. Their only purpose is to gather power for the artifact." At least she had everyone's attention now.

"This Lost Logia is called the Book of Darkness." A book lit up on the screen. "Our information identifies this book as one of the highest and most dangerous Lost Logia in our database. It uses the power stolen to add pages to itself, and once it is filled the book then grant's it's user what amounts to ultimate power." Lindy paused here to be sure she had the attention of everyone. "However, once it has done this the book's power begins to overwhelm the user, causing a catastrophic failure." Lindy brought up another picture.

A serenely floating planet illuminated the screen. At the side of the planet a small dark dot appeared, and began to grown. The planet's skies began to swirl and collapse around the hole, and then the planet itself was swallowed whole by the black hole. The black hole then winked out, revealing that the entire planet was gone.

"To top it all off, the book reforms itself once it is destroyed." Lindy sighed and continued. "The only way we can stop this from happening is to find the user and convince them to seal the book." Or kill them, Lindy didn't add.

"Well that sucks." Ranma stated.

"Fortunately the TSAB is giving this it's full attention, and we have full support." Lindy nodded at Chrono and Amy as they entered the room. "Now all we have to have is a battle plan."

"Which is my area." Chrono stated simply. "Our current objectives are to prevent the knights from gathering the necessary magical power., and to locate the master of the Book of Darkness Nanoha, Fate, Ranma, and Arf are going to be heading the knight interception team. We have several squadrons out right now trying to find and contain the knights so that you can intercept them. I will be searching for the master with Amy and Lindy."

"Umm, what about me?" Yuno pointed to himself.

"Your talents could be used in another area." Chrono turned to the boy. "We have need of information, and your talents are far better suited for research than combat or search. The archives of the TSAB have been in dissarray since it's founding, so you are best to get it back into shape."

Yuno sighed and nodded.

"We will call you together when we have more information." Chrono stated as he concluded.

"But for now, dinner!" Amy smiled and waved to the table as she sat down the last dish.


	6. Chapter 6

"I might have overdone it a little." Mary looked at the object in her hand with an embarrassed smile as she spoke to Fate. "But I have the barrier jacket we spoke of made."

The blonde girl smiled warmly at the older woman in response. Her dedication to fixing Bardiche, and to assisting in Ranma's new equipment was unmatched. In fact, Fate was a little bit surprised that the woman had managed to finish the barrier jacket so soon considering that Raging Heart and Bardiche were still being worked on.

"Since I don't know where the boy is, you can have it." Mary held out the object. "Give it to him, and have him play around with it a bit. I have a bit of time to make adjustments while I monitor your device. The standard evocation should set it up, there really isn't an AI to speak of, but it does recognize basic commands. Don't worry about damaging it, it has a self regeneration feature, but you should probably recharge it instead of Ranma. The power consumption is fairly low by design, but it still needs a lot of power stored to perform all it's functions."

The device that Mary had created was large for it's type, a necklace with a center piece about as large as Fate's hand and surprisingly heavy. The centerpiece was a large fractal gem backed by a steel frame, and attached to a steel chain. Strangely the device was both pretty, and had a surprising sense of durability to it as well.

Hefting it in one hand Fate held the device in the air with a critical look. It swung gently and glinted in the artificial light. Finally the girl grasped the centerpiece in one hand and focused her mana into it. The thing glowed briefly, and then settled. Fate looked a bit puzzled as she opened her hand and looked at the thing.

"Oh," Mary scratched her head in slight embarrassment. "I forgot to add that I sorta added a few stealth functions to it. You can't really tell it's magical even when fully activated. The barrier flares with magic when you hit it, but otherwise it's near undetectable. They don't use it with your devices because they always have magic flowing through them, this thing is static for the most part."

Fate nodded and smiled brightly at Mary. "It should be near perfect." Her voice was soft as she looked at the glinting pseudo device. "What's it's name?"

"It really doesn't have one right now." Mary shrugged and turned away. "I have been calling it Trombe for now, but if we can ever figure out how to make a proper device for Ranma it will need to be renamed."

"Why is that?" Fate tilted her head and put away the device.

"Because Trombe is the name of a horse I know, and I am pretty sure that Ranma would find it a bit annoying to be associated even more with one," Mary replied with an embarrassed blush.

Fate's mouth twitched.

* * *

"Oooh, lemmie see!" Nanoha literally bounced as she looked over Fate's shoulder at the device held in her hand. "So that's Ranma's new device?"

"Yes," Fate replied simply as she held Trombe out in front of her so that Nanoha could see it better. "Though it's not really a true device."

"Maybe it will keep Ranma from 'borrowing' Raging Heart anyway." Nanoha looked at the gem critically.

"Somehow I doubt that," Fate replied with a straight face. "He does it with Bardiche too."

Nanoha sighed and shook her head as she sat back on her bed. She loved Ranma dearly and all, but the boy loved picking fights almost as much. "I think he's off sulking somewhere to be honest. That last fight got to him more than he would care to admit."

Fate nodded as she sat next to Nanoha. The brown haired girl was still recovering from the recent battle, and had to rest far more often than she would like. The resulting frustration was making her more irritable than normal, and every time Ranma saw this frustration he would go off somewhere deserted and train. Mostly from guilt.

"But!" Nanoha raised a finger with a small smile. "I know how he thinks, so I think I could track him down."

"We could wait for him," Fate pointed out with a small smile.

Nanoha rolled her eyes and got to her feet. Grabbing Fate's hand she smiled and began to pull the blonde haired girl out of the room. "I want to see this too! Besides, I'm bored, I can't train, and my friends are busy!"

The two girls tumbled out of the house, and an almost hyperactive Nanoha began to lead the way across the city, Fate trailing behind with an almost lost air. The blonde haired girl thought about objecting once or twice, but Nanoha looked both determined and happy that Fate couldn't bring herself to have her friend go back and rest.

Finally they reached a small park with thick almost overgrown foliage. Nanoha barely stopped as she forced her way past the overgrown bushes and into a small clearing. There both girls stopped and looked around silently. Fate's eyes spotted a few old signs of battle damage, but no boy.

"We used to train here when we were looking for jewel seeds." Nanoha smiled and walked past a tree with half it's bark gone. "It's one of the best spots to go to if you don't want to be disturbed."

Fate blinked as Nanoha disappeared into another bush. There was a loud splash and some sputtering soon afterwards, and the girl came back dragging a soggy Ranma. "There is also a small stream nearby too!" The girl chirped happily.

"Gack!" Ranma shook his head to get rid of some of the excess water. "What the heck?"

"Fate has a present for you!" Nanoha smiled and strode over to the blonde girl.

Fate's face illuminated in a blush as Nanoha reached into her pocket and pulled out Trombe with a wide smile. "Nanoha.." She mumbled out as the girl giggled.

"Here it is!" Dangling the gemstone from a chain she hopped over to Ranma and handed the confused boy the device.

"Huh?" Ranma held the device with a clueless expression on his face.

"Fate?" Nanoha looked at the blonde girl expectantly.

Fate cleared her throat, and got control of her blush. "Say Set up."

"Set Up?" Ranma yelped as the object in his hand flashed brightly and in a furious expenditure of magic illuminated his form with power.

Just as quickly as it activated it was over with, and the boy found his clothing far different than it was before hand. Thick leather gloves, armored arm guards, steel breastplate, heavy wickedly dangerous looking boots, a cape, and two massive steel shoulder guards. The entire outfit was predominantly red and black, and the cape fluttered as the boy looked at himself.

Ranma's eyebrow twitched. "All right, who's idea was it to dress me up like some black knight?"

Fate blinked at the boy. "Mary wasn't kidding when she said she might have gone overboard."

"I dunno.." Nanoha's face looked slightly flushed. "I think I like it."

Ranma twisted his body to look at himself and frowned mightily. He rolled his shoulders and moved one hand up to fiddle with the spaulders. There was a click and the round disk shaped object slid off his body and to the ground with a heavy clang, causing the ground to crater. The boy blinked and fiddled with the other side and that disk fell to the ground as well. Next the boy found a clasp around his neck and pulled off the cape. He held the cloth out in front of him and shook it slightly.

Fate looked slightly confused as the boy dropped the cape and jumped up and down. "Ranma?"

"Why did Mary make the armor look so sculpted?" Nanoha asked Fate softly. "Or is that just because it's skin tight?"

Fate missed Nanoha's question as Ranma replied. "Actually.." The boy lifted up one of the round spaulders and hefted it. "This is kinda cool. These aren't nearly as heavy as they look." With that the boy threw the discus at the tree casually.

Both girls looked surprised when the metal disk impacted the tree and embedded itself into the side halfway.

Ranma smiled happily and trotted over to the tree, prying out the shoulder guard and attaching it to the latch on his armor. He then attached the other shoulder guard and pulled on the cape with a flourish. Crossing his arms, the boy struck a small pose for the watching girls. "What do you think?"

"I like it!" Nanoha chirped brightly as she clasped her hands in front of her, overriding anything Fate might have said.

"Nice present Fate." Ranma chuckled as he rotated an arm in experimentation. "What the occasion?"

Fate smiled and held out her hand, forming a small sphere of magic. "Catch and see." She threw the magic ball at the boy suddenly.

Ranma blinked and hold out a gloved hand to catch the sphere, and the thing exploded as soon as it touched him. The explosion obscured their vision for a moment, but when Ranma was visible again both girls found him looking at his hand with a fairly large smirk.

"Now this, this I can use." Ranma's smirk turned a little bit evil.

* * *

Libraries are almost always serene places. The quiet atmosphere, the looming organized bookshelves, and the people quietly conversing in small areas. Proper libraries emphasize this, and try to keep the place both clean and well policed. This particular library had the advantage of a near perfect atmosphere, and a very large selection of fiction books. It was why it was Suzuka's favorite place to relax when she wasn't with Nanoha or Arisa.

She also liked that a few friends visited the place as well. Her current favorite person to see was a Hayate Yagami. She was a sickly girl in a wheelchair with brown hair and a sweet personality. The purple haired girl shared quite a few interests with Hayate, so the two enjoyed when they met up. It was a shame that the girl had to go visit the doctor so often, Suzuka would have loved introducing the girl to Nanoha and Arisa. Maybe Ranma too, if Nanoha made sure that the boy had been tied down first.

"Did you read the last book I showed you Hayate?" The introduction would have to wait though, right now Hayate didn't look as cheerful as she usually did.

"Yes, thank you." The brown haired girl made a visible effort to perk up. "I loved the ending on it, it fit the book perfectly, and it was so happy."

"I thought you would." Suzuka smiled at the other girl as she pushed the wheelchair forward. "I'm glad you showed me that series myself, it's not what I usually go for, but it's really good."

"I found that one by accident." Hayate giggled as she reached behind her chair and placed one of the books in the pouch hanging there. "I liked the cover, and couldn't put it down afterwards."

"I wish you didn't have to go to the doctor today, I am positive my friends would love to meet you." Suzuka stopped pushing the chair and smiled at Hayate's pink haired attendant.

She had no idea what the woman's relationship was towards Hayate, but assumed it was either a relative or a maid. Either way it was very obvious that the woman was intensely attached to the wheelchair bound girl. Much like the little red-headed girl and the blonde woman who occasionally were there as well.

Hayate smiled up at Suzuka as the pink haired woman began to push her chair away. "Maybe some other time! I could cook something and we could make it a dinner event."

"I'll call you then!" Suzuka waved and turned away.

"She is a cheerful girl," Signum stated serenely as she pushed the wheelchair.

"Yes she is." Hayate leaned back and relaxed. "I'm glad I met her. When do you think would be a good time to setup that dinner?"

"Let us see what the doctor has to say first," was the immediate reply. "None of us would want you to endanger yourself in any way."

Hayate looked affectionately at the knight behind her. "You worry too much."

"Even if you would never order us to do so, we would lay down our lives for you." Signum stated this as a fact. "The Wolkenritter are your knights Hayate, your life is our everything."

"You should have your own life first." The argument was an old hat by now, but Hayate still pressed on. Her knights were the most dear people in the world to her.

"Before we met you we had no life." Signum was older than Hayate far more disciplined and set in her ways than the younger girl. To her, these were the facts, and nothing could change them. "Everything we are is at your sufferance."

The girl grimaced slightly at the reminder. "It shouldn't be like that. I mean Vita is so happy when she visits that Croquet Club, and I love how happy Shamal is when she tried to help."

"We have never had a master like you Hayate." Signum rolled the wheelchair into the hospital. "No matter what you give us, it is enough." Privately Signum thought it was beyond what she and the others deserved as servants of the Book of Darkness. This was the first master that the woman would willing serve. The first master she would willingly disobey.

It hadn't escaped the knights that Hayate was dying. At first they had thought that the girl was just sick from the constant drain of the book, but the condition was worsening. Every day Hayate died a little bit more supporting them. Every night the book took a little bit more of her soul, and destroyed just the tiny bit more of her body.

There was a special sort of hell in knowing that your dearest person was going to die. Your most beloved, a soul that gave you life, and heaven. That Hayate was going to die was bitter enough, that she was going to die because the knights and the Book of Darkness were devouring her inch by inch was poison incarnate.

Signum and the others would have ended their own existence in a heartbeat if it meant that Hayate would live. They would have drenched the world in blood at her orders, they would have doomed dimensions and civilizations. Instead she housed them, cooked for them, and gave them little pieces of her love and affection.

For Hayate Signum would betray her honor. Signum, the one who's honor was everything. For Hayate the knights would complete the book. They would fill every page, and they would grant Hayate ultimate power. To cure her. Against her direct orders the Book of Darkness would be completed.

* * *

_ "This could become a problem." _ Signum's telepathic transmission was an understatement if anything in Vita's opinion.

The red haired girl grimaced as she held her hammer in a guarding position in front of her, Signum's back to hers. It was inevitable that their mission was going to be interfered in, their ultimate goal involved what amounted to stealing a piece of a person's soul after all. Their success so far was do to the simple fact that there were a bare handful of mages capable of delaying the knights long enough, and that they ambushed their targets where they could bring their better close combat skills to bare. Ultimately it was just a matter of time until they hit some heavy resistance.

Any other time Vita would have enjoyed taking her time smashing her way through, but Hayate was waiting at home. _ "__Shit__, __the __bastards __are__ just__ delaying __us__." _The tiny girl lunged forward a bit, and felt the reflexive crackle of a barrier form around the defending mages. _ "__Hope__ tha t__Zafira __gets __here __soon__, __we __can__'__t__ let__ them __pin __us __down __like __this__. " _

Ten TSAB grunts. Not enough to stop Vita, much less Signum but, it was just enough to keep a barrier up and the two knights hemmed in. If the grunts had attacked it might have been different. Here in the sky they were at a minor disadvantage compared to a Mid-Childen mage. Not because they were stronger, but because their enemies could bring superior numbers to bear. Individually each TSAB mage was a small road bump. Gathered like this, they were an obstacle that Signum and Vita didn't have time for.

_" They are leaving." _Vita's voice didn't sound happy about that. Indeed the mages were backing up quickly now, still keeping the barrier up, but it was an obvious retreat.

_"I can guess why." _Signum's transmission was tinged with something amounting to weariness_. "Watch yourself." _

Vita grunted in acknowledgment as her hammer clanged and hissed as it ejected a cartridge. There was only one reason that the mages would back off like that. They had reinforcements that they needed to make room for.

_"THERE!" _Vita's voice called out as she dodged the yellow blast of power.

Both Signum and Vita blurred out of sight as the massive blast of magical power lanced through their former position. The next lance of light was targeted at Vita with unnerving precision, pink this time. To the side Signum began to dart forward towards where she had seen the attack. A moment later she stopped and turned, swinging her sword up in a hasty block. The clang resounded startlingly loud, and Signum found herself facing a tiny blonde haired girl. Their devices sparked as they clashed.

"Hello Signum." The girl's voice was soft as she brought her device around and slashed at the flying knight.

"Fate." Signum's device hissed and clanged as she brought her weapon forward once again.

_"Damnit." _Vita made to interfere with the battle, but was forced to dodge back as another lance of pink light intersected her flight path_. "The one shooting must be Nanoha then." _

_"Indeed." _Signum's voice was calm as she blocked and twisted her sword, darting back and slashing a wave of fire towards Fate. _ "They have us pinned, and Zafira just got delayed. " _The knight was forced back as an array of pink spheres began to sweep upwards and into the sky around her, each exploding and obscuring Fate's darting movements. _ "I can delay this one, go after the shooter. _

_"Got it!" _ Vita dropped the magic supporting her flying and fell like a rock, banking on the sudden movement to prevent Nanoha's next shot.

_"Watch for the boy." _Signum cautioned as she just barely dodged a series of yellow blasts of magic.

The woman grimaced as she moved, but the shooter on the ground failed to continue her attacks, giving the knight free reign in responding to Fate's attack.

* * *

_"I can't say I like this." _Nanoha's voice sounded a bit hesitant.

Ranma shrugged slightly as he fiddled with the new costume. Nanoha couldn't see him, but the gesture was almost instinctive anyway. "Honor is all well and good when your actions won't kill people. It's better to win when lives are on the line." Another pink light of power lanced out from Nanoha's current position. "We can do the whole one on one thing when they aren't trying to complete the book."

"Wouldn't they be gone then?" Nanoha sounded confused.

Ranma jumped to a rooftop nearby Nanoha's place. He couldn't see what Nanoha was aiming at, but he knew when Vita began to drop and look for the one shooting at her thanks to Fate's warning. "I dunno. I do know that they are behaving differently than they normally do. I looked over the records that the TSAB had, and they are very different than they normally are. Right now subdue, and then we can make friends." Ranma felt his face twist into a grin as he finally spotted the irritated looking Vita. "Ya know, like we did with Fate."

Ranma just knew that if Fate hadn't been in the middle of a fight she would have blushed beat red. Shame he wasn't nearby. Ah well, onto business.

The boy quietly leaped to another rooftop nearby where Vita was hovering. Nanoha's sniper spot had been chosen specifically to allow Ranma to pull this off just right. With a mighty leap and a single flap of his new cape the boy rose into the air. The jump was perfect, and the boy gathered his meager magical power in a complex magical seal.

Ranma was actually mediocre at math, this meant that he was mediocre at magical spells, and that compared to Nanoha he was absolutely glacial. What he did have was an instinctive knowledge of kinetics and space. Nanoha and Fate were years ahead of him at math, and by association arrays, but they could never do what he did with movement magic. He drilled the same spells over and over again until he could do them in his sleep, and then used his natural instinct to do something utterly fantastic.

Like using magic to create a massive downward push.

Vita's expression was priceless as the she felt the magic formed quickly and then unleashed into her, forcing her downwards and through the roof that she had been hovering over with terrific force. She slammed through the plaster and clipped a girder as she plummeted into the hardwood floor that consisted of the top floor of the building.

Even with that she was a tough girl, and rolled away from the inevitable follow-up. Ranma's form touched down and he smirked widely as the girl got to her feet and snarled at him.

"So the puppy thinks he has teeth." Vita growled out and gripped her hammer with both hands. "I would say I like the new look, but to be honest you look horrible."

"Heh, You just wish you could look this cool." Ranma preened a bit as he crossed his arms and swept his cape around him.

Vita couldn't help herself, she rolled her eyes and laughed. That didn't stop her from charging forward as her hammer hissed and clanged as it loaded up another cartridge. The boy just chuckled and swept to his side, cape billowing behind him.

In response Vita grabbed the cape and pulled, only to get tangled up in the oddly strong cloth. The girl lost her balance for a moment, and then swept the cape from her body with a snarl. Her eyes widened as she spotted a spinning object hiss towards her, Ranma having thrown it as she was occupied. The discuss clanged off her hastily thrown up hammer and spun into a nearby wall, digging into it with aloud crack. Vita had no chance to celebrate the block, because there had been a second discuss right behind the first. That one slammed right into her midsection, and actually hurt.

Ranma didn't let the girl recover, he was already sweeping forward. Lifting up his cape and reattaching it in one smooth motion the boy charged toward the staggered Vita and kicked out impossibly fast. The girl reeled as his foot impacted against her head. Even with that though Vita didn't fall, she swung her hammer forward and missed the boy by inches. Ranma didn't let up, continually peppering the off guard girl. Every strike was deflected by the barrier jacket almost contemptuously easy, but it was starting to add up.

On her end, Vita was getting a bit desperate. The boy was weaving around her strikes like they were nothing, and she just couldn't get the range while she was stuck in the building. Smashing it was out too, the boy wasn't letting her get to a point where a strike would get her out.

"FINE!" Vita screamed out, forming several balls of magic in her hand and slamming her hammer down into them.

Ranma grunted as he held his leather clad hands up to guard his eyes. The explosion was messy, blowing out the floor of the building and all of the windows. His newly crafted armor glowed slightly as it absorbed the massive damage, and Ranma found himself thankful that he had it. That blast would have knocked him out.

Vita heaved as the smoke from the explosion dissipated. She looked ragged, and surprised as she saw a nearly pristine Ranma charge forward, cape sweeping behind him. She dodged, and attempted to get some space.

Ranma chuckled slightly as he rolled and picked up one of his shoulder spaulders and reaching to the wall where his other one was held. He pulled it out easily and threw both like discusses, perfectly aimed at Vita.

Vita snarled as she turned and a shield lit up. It was either defend or get hit now. The girl felt her eyes widen as the cloth from Ranma's cape wrapped around her throat right before the metal discuses slammed through her barrier. The magical defense shattered without her attention on it, and then both heavy spaulders crashed into her body.

Vita gasped as she was lifted up and the cloth pulled tight as a noose. Graf Eisen was useless at this angle, and her vision was already blackening. The girl looked frantic until she realized what was behind them. With a massive surge of magic Vita pushed both her and Ranma back, and out the window. She grit her teeth and grabbed at Ranma as they tumbled through the air and slammed into the ground several dozen stories below.

* * *

CLANG!

The devices sparked with magic as they impacted with each other. The newly remodeled and renamed Bardiche Assault matched Signum's Laevatein blow for blow without faltering or fracturing from the massive amount of magical enhancement Signum used in her attacks. Deprived of the signature overwhelming destruction that the cartridge system granted a user, Signum found herself evenly matched with Fate. It was a battle of equals instead of the overwhelming destruction that had previously occurred.

In another time, or another place the woman would have loved to have a long drawn out battle to determine who was greater. Here though, she was at a disadvantage. No support, little time, and she had just completed a mission. Plus, as a lance of pink light illustrated grandly, the shooter hadn't been neutralized by Vita. The proper response to these circumstances would be to run. The TSAB's barrier removed that option.

Signum deflected another strike from the blindingly fast Fate and grimaced slightly. They had even taken Zafira into account, intercepting the familiar midway to the battle. All in all, this was a nice little trap that stood a good chance to work, but the worst place to have your opponent is cornered.

Laevatein clanged and hissed as it shot out a cartridge, and Signum blurred forward, striking out at Fate. A lout clang resounded as Fate blocked, and there were sparks as Signum forced Fate into a contest of strength. The weapons ground against each other in a shower of sparks from the forces behind the two.

On the surface it seemed foolish for Fate to get into battle of strength, but magic could be used in more ways than just flashy explosions. The two mages were using magic to enhance their bodies beyond normal limits though, and in this case it was more a matter of magical might instead of physical might. The two mages struggled furiously, teeth grit and bodies straining from the contest.

Only Signum's consummate skill allowed her to pull off what she did next. She let Fate win. The suddenness of the victory allowed the woman to use the force of the contest to knock her downward, and out of close combat with an unexpected speed. For a brief moment Fate thought that she had finally succeeded in a direct hit, but then Laevatein clanked twice, and Signum twisted in midair as she fell.

"Schlangenform," the knight's device spoke as it's blade seemed to break into pieces. The knight twisted the weapon and struck out.

Too late Fate realized that it was in the direction of Nanoha, and the girl blurred forward. The device struck a rooftop far below with titanic force, tearing it apart. The attack left Signum open though, and Fate's scythe impacted through the barrier jacket with an almost sickening slice.

The knight struck into the side of a building from the force of her fall combined with Fate's attack, causing smoke and debris to billow out. In the sky Fate looked worried until Nanoha's form floated up next to her, showing the white clad girl to be unharmed.

"No worries Fate." The girl smiled happily at the her blonde friend.

Fate nodded serenely and looked to where the knight had impacted with a frown. "That shouldn't have been enough to take her down."

Nanoha nodded and aimed her rebuilt Raging Heart Excelion at the building. Fate, obeying the unspoken request dove forward and into the still lingering smoke. The girl frowned as she hefted her weapon and looked into the shattered remains of the room. The only thing that she could find was Signum's coat, soaked in blood. There was no sign of the knight.

The sound of a building's windows being blown out cause both Nanoha and Fate to jerk their attention to where they knew Ranma had lured Vita. Just in time to see the boy plummet out of the building and into the road below.

* * *

Ranma coughed as he tried to get breath back into his battered body. The impact had actually cracked the pavement, and seriously knocked the wind out of him. Vita had landed first though, thankfully. The girl didn't look to good, but hopefully would stay down.

Vita coughed, and spat up blood. Her breathing was shallow and shaky. Her body ached, and she knew that one of her ribs was stabbing deep into her lung as she coughed again and tasted blood. The girl still held Graf Eisen. She got up, onto one knee and then to her feet.

"Did you think that would stop me?" The girls blood spattered face grinned at the stunned boy. "I am not nearly done," She gasped and held out her hammer in readiness.

Ranma's gloves creaked as he gripped his hands. The boy couldn't help it, he grinned at the girl as the two clashed yet again. For a brief moment the two almost danced. Vita's hammer struck out again and again, missing buy inches, and occasionally impacting into Ranma's carefully placed blocks. The boy managed to slip in between her strikes and hit the girl several times, but every attack seemed to do nothing.

"I'm NOT DONE!" Vita screamed and took a kick directly to her midsection. The impact drove the rib deeper and she coughed up blood. She didn't stop. Her hammer drove forward and into Ranma's hasty block.

This blow was dead on. No fancy deflection, no way to diminish the attack. Had Ranma been unarmored it would have shattered every bone in his body. His new barrier jacked proved it's worth that day, defusing the massive strike into one that would just knock him across the street and through a parked car's windshield.

Vita grinned as she collapsed to the ground, and Signum set down right in front of the girl. Signum's blade clanked as she shifted to face the two girls floating almost serenely in front of her, between her and Ranma. The pink haired knight frowned as she assessed the situation, and did not like what she saw.

"Surrender and we can be sure that you are treated fairly." Fate spoke softly as she held Bardiche Assault in a guard position. Behind her Nanoha looked over the battered Ranma with a worried expression.

Signum hesitated for a brief instant. The situation looked very bad right now. She was saved though by the last member of their group. Looking up into the sky she spotted a massive black sphere of magic forming above them all.

"Are you willing to risk the boy's life?" Signum hated this, but it was necessary. "One of our fellow knights has unleashed a portion of her power. Very quickly this entire area is going to be ash." The sphere was getting larger.

"What?!" Nanoha looked up and gulped as she hefted Ranma up on one shoulder.

"A deal." Signum's sword clanked and hissed as it shot out a cartridge. "I don't hinder you getting the boy out, and you don't hinder me leaving."

Fate grit her teeth as she looked at the knight. "Hardly a knightly thing to do."

"I know." Signum hefted Vita up bridal style, inexplicably she looked very sad and old at that point. "But I can't allow myself an honorable death quite yet."

Fate felt the need to curse as Signum blurred away. She could go after the knight, but the pink haired woman had made it clear that either they all left or none of them left. Unfortunately with that massive doomsday spell gathering above all their heads they couldn't afford a confrontation.

The sphere touched down onto the ground almost serenely, dissolving the city in a titanic blast of magical power. It hit no one, but it was a testament to the power that the Book of Darkness was capable of unleashing.

* * *

_'I don't see why the bastard gets to fight with Fate while I am on guard duty.' _Arf complained softly into her link.

The orange haired woman leapt sullenly from building to building outside of the barrier . She was acutely aware that the battle might have already been started inside, and here she was running around where she couldn't even help if there was an issue.

_'Ranma has the advantage against Vita, and probably Signum if he has managed to observe her enough.' _Chrono's reply was much like the boy himself at that point, cold and methodical. _ 'Those two are the biggest hitters. Ranma is capable of analyzing and predicting their movements enough that he can almost guarantee Fate and Nanoha's victory. You however, are far more suited for hunting and intercepting any interference.' _

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." Arf sighed and paused slightly, then grinned as she caught a vague scent of magic on the wind. _ '__Zafira__'__s__here__! __I__got__him__!' _With that the woman leapt off the rooftop and dashed after the blue clad man, right into the barrier.

Chrono sighed as he watched the familiar run off, but shrugged eventually. This gave him room to look for either the Book of Darkness's Master or the last knight, and having Arf go off and intercept the last known combat capable enemy freed him up to deal with any unexpected surprises.

Inside the barrier Arf howled as she chased after the blue clad familiar. She was a frustrated familiar, and poor Zafira was going to be taking the brunt of that emotion. Now the real trick was getting the man to stay and actually fight. She knew that Zafira had spotted her, but the man seemed determined to avoid direct combat.

Unfortunately for Zafira Arf knew quite a few tricks for hunting things. One of those was a long distance chain bind. It was weak, and broken easily after the chains settled, but it was enough. The chains shot our of the ground and bound the man tightly, causing him to stop suddenly in mid-stride. Arf ran forward, and the man twisting in the chains to face her, snapping them just in time to block the woman's incoming fist.

Lightning bolts blasted across the street as magically enchanted fist met magically enchanted fist. The two familiars clashed explosively in hand to hand combat. Ducking and weaving around her opponent's strikes Arf growled in a mix of battle lust and fury. The man was damn near her equal in power, and instead of defending he was just matching her attacks with attacks of his own, turning this into a pure brute force slugging match.

One particular strike caused Arf to dig her heels into the concrete below her, cratering the ground below her. It didn't knock her back far, but Zafira apparently deemed it enough to attempt to disengage. As if Arf would let him get away. The enemy familiar snarled as he felt the buildup of another binding and instead darted forward at Arf with a furious howl.

"What, did ya think I would LET you get away?" Arf taunted with a feral smirk as she clashed with her opponent again. "Your precious knights are getting their asses handed to them by MY master, it wouldn't do to let you stop that."

"My fellow knights can handle themselves." Zafira visibly cooled his actions emotions as he struck out at the woman. "I will defeat you, and then deal with your master."

"You are too damned predictable to do that!" Arf laughed slightly as she leaned and moved close into Zafira's guard. Ranma's little tricks were irritating as hell, but they were useful, and the brief opening that the stolen move gave was more than enough for Arf to slam her fist into her opponent.

The man rocked back and into a storefront, slamming through the glass with a shattering sound. Arf allowed herself to feel triumphant for a moment, but very quickly followed into the storefront and into the building. There she blinked a few times and refrained from laughing, barely.

Zafira snarled as he got to his feet and pulled off the bit of cloth on his head. He blinked at the look on his opponents face before looking at the cloth. Apparently he had been dropped into a lingerie shop. With a snort and a growl he just threw the cloth away and charged at the now widely smiling Arf.

On the other side of the barrier Chrono's job was far less violent. Currently aside from checking on the mages maintaining the barrier he had little sign of the last knight, or the master of the book. It was a lot of area to cover alone, but he had a decent chance of locating any interference if enough magic was used. So long as the barrier was up there was little chance of people getting out, so the enemy either needed to take it down from the inside or outside. Inside was obvious and difficult to do, so Chrono was betting on the last knight being outside to attempt to break it that way.

It took time, but Chrono finally spotted the last knight, clad in green and standing serenely on top of a rooftop right next to the barrier. What really got Chrono's attention was the book she was holding. The thing was radiating magic from the pages.

Whatever she was doing was obviously incomplete, and interruptible. A quick blast of energy made the blond woman step back, and there right above her was Chrono's impassive figure floating in the air.

"Surrender peacefully." The boy held out his staff in a clearly threatening gesture. "You are under arrest."

Shamal gulped and looked from the book to the boy. She wasn't the combat expert, and in this case her options were between slim and none. "I..." She hesitated and gripped her hand, where her ring like device rested. Resisting would be pointless, but she couldn't just give up.

Chrono was about to fire off a second more powerful blast, he was until a series of rings spiraled around his form and tightened with terrific force. His arms were bound to his side, and even his device was bound tightly. He grit his teeth and struggled, but found the binding tight. This was a very powerful binding, and clearly not the work of the knight.

A blue haired man in a mask appeared from nowhere, his hand outstretched in a clear act of maintaining the binding. "Unleash the Book of Darkness." The command was delivered without emotion. "If you wish to have any hope of victory, you must make a small sacrifice."

Shamal looked very confused, but the thought of what her fellow knights where up to made her steal her resolve, and she began to cast. Slowly, several pages began to go blank. The book's written pages fluttered and the ink simple disappeared as a small portion of the magic began to be released.

High above the combatants a small black sphere began to form and rapidly grow. Arf and Zafira both snarled at each other, but realized that their respective allies need help, and dashed off at the same time. Chrono struggled to interrupt the binding, but was unable to do anything as the sphere of black magic continued to grow and grow.

As for Shamal, when the casting the spell was done she gave the man who helped her one last confused glance, and began to run. The man in the mask gave no sign of emotion as the sphere began to fall, a massive black bomb of power that dissolved barrier and building alike. The backlash of power obscured the man from sight and knocked Chrono from the sky, still bound. The bindings dissolved quickly , but there was no sign of the knights or the man who had interfered.

* * *

"That was too close." Shamal stated as she looked out from the small shelter she and the other knights had taken. "We almost lost everything."

There were a few alleyways that were very deserted at this time of the night. Finding one with an overhang and isolated enough to spot incoming people was a trivial task. It wasn't clean, but it was defensible and in a place where no one could see them perform the small magical first aid that they dared.

Signum sighed and set the unconscious Vita down. The girl groan from the pain of being jostled, but didn't wake. "Our opponents are too canny and numerous to allow that to happen again." Quickly the woman began stripping the clothes off the girl. "We need something to wrap her ribs. Zafira, try to get something."

"Yes." The man shifted forms into a wolf and began to quietly and stealthily prowl off.

"We are going to have to travel farther away to avoid being caught then." An array appeared on one of Shamal's hands as she checked over Vita. "She will recover fine, if we can keep her from combat. This sort of damage doesn't heal quickly even for us." Being constructs allowed the knights to push themselves harder and heal faster than most normal people. It was one of the few bonuses that the Wolkenritter liked, and abused as much as they could.

Signum nodded as Zafira dashed in carrying a small kit with a red cross on it. "There was a shop that didn't have much surveillance. I managed to sneak in and steal this."

"Thank you." Shamal took the kit and began ripping through it, discarding the unnecessary items. "We can tape her ribs, she should be fine enough to fight at the end of the week."

"Don't, Hayate can't know." Vita gasped out as her eyes opened and she glared at the overhang they were sheltered under. "We can't allow her to worry, and she would just try to stop us."

The other knights winced but acknowledged the problem. Their master worried enough as is, and if she saw the damage that Vita had taken there was a good chance of some issues occurring. They still looked worried though.

"It will take you twice as long to heal if you don't wrap it though." Shamal held out the bandages. "We can make sure that Hayate can't see it, but we really do need you back as quick as possible."

Vita sighed and grit her teeth as another spike of pain lanced through her. "Fine. But if I think she will spot them I am ripping them off."

"Very well." Signum stated and turned to the one entrance in the alley. "Be quick, Hayate will be worried."

* * *

"Ow!" Ranma whimpered in pain as another small sliver of glass was pulled out of his skin. The doctor attending the boy just sighed and looked at him.

"You come into my office covered in glass shards, with torn ligaments, and fractured bones grinning your head off, and then have the nerve to whimper when I pull the damned shards out of your body?" The doctor just shook his head and continued to look over the boy. "If you didn't heal so fast I would put you in intensive care with the damage you took. " Another shard of glass was pulled out with , causing a pitiful whimper. "You keep this up and I am using the painful disinfectant, the type that burns like fire." The whimpering stopped.

About an hour later the doctor finally stood to his full height and cracked his back. "Just once I would like to see you kids with normal injuries, and not battle injuries."

"But that would be boring." Ranma blinked innocently up at the doctor. "Do I get a lollypop?"

"Out you hellion!" The doctor pointed to the door. "And none of your blasted insane training until you are fully healed or I will call your father!"

"Yipe!" Ranma chuckled and scampered out.

The doctor just sighed and rubbed his forehead as he began to putter around the room. The report for this incident was going to be hell, he just knew it. Ranma's injuries would take up several pages at the very least, and the damned healing technique was enough to make his fellow doctors salivate from the possibilities.

"I think that's a new record for you Ranma." Fate said softly as she met up with the scampering boy. He was obviously still rather injured, but at least he wasn't confined to bed this time.

Ranma chuckled and scratched at his head. "It's kinda fun making them steam up. A lot of the TSAB scientist are so easy to rile."

"If I didn't know you so well I would be worried." Nanoha commented as she slid so that Ranma was between her and Fate. "We do have to be sure that Ranma rests well though."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked at the two girls.

"Lindy asked us to keep you from injuring yourself." Fate smiled at Nanoha and Ranma both.

"And since we love you so much, we are going to be sure that you take it easy for the rest of the week!" Nanoha chirped brightly as she grabbed an arm.

Ranma's expression grew panicked as Fate grabbed the other arm. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"We have our ways." Nanoha gave Ranma a look.

The three children walked down the hallway and to the transporter. Behind them the soldiers just shook their head as they watched Ranma's nervous expression.

"That boy is either going to die a happy man, or just die." One of the soldiers commented, and the rest of them just had to nod. "Hell of a way to go though."

* * *

"Vita would you like to take a bath with me?" Hayate smiled warmly at the red haired girl. "We haven't been able to do things together near as much as I would like since my last doctor visit."

"Eh, why not?" Vita shrugged, expertly concealing the wince from her bandaged ribs. The pain was immense from just moving around casually, but Vita would die before letting her master know what was going on behind her back. "I'll meet you there, I want to see what happens next."

Hayate giggled. "I never pictured you for a couch potato, but you really have been hooked on those anime series haven't you been?"

"Eh, it's something ta do." Vita waved as Hayate wheeled towards the bathroom. As soon as the girl walked out of sight the tiny redhead lifted up her shirt and unwrapped the rib bandages. "Take care of these while I'm with Hayate."

At her feet Zafira took up the bindings in his mouth. If he could express himself in dog form he would look very worried. "You are only injuring yourself more pushing yourself like this."

Vita glared with almost pure rage. "It doesn't matter. Hayate can't know, and if I can help by making her life just the little bit easier while the others work it's worth it."

"Of course." Zafira sighed and walked off with the bandages. "Come by me later and I will re-wrap your chest after your bath."

"Yeah." Vita levered herself up and out of the couch, pulling down her shirt as she did so. A bead of sweat dripped down her face, but there was no other sign of the intense pain her ribs were causing her body.

Fortunately she could explain away the bruising as Signum being a bit rough in a fight, but the ribs would have been suspicious. Vita would make Ranma pay for this, pay with interest.

* * *

Bleep! Blip! Beep!

Ranma fiddled with the controls of the game he was playing intently, his eyes glued to the screen. To his side Nanoha played just as intently. Behind her Fate and Arf just watched the two with expressions of mild dismay.

"I win that one!" Ranma raising his hand in a cheer. "Hey!"

"Nah!" Nanoha stuck out her tongue at the boy and pressed another few buttons. "Your fault for taking your hand away!"

"How long have they been at it again?" Fate asked her familiar softly.

"About four hours now." Arf sighed and shook her head. "I think Nanoha's winning, but I lost track when they started monopolizing the controller."

"I thought so." Fate sighed and flopped back.

Ranma put both his hands up in a cheer. "I win again!"

"No!!!!!!!"

* * *

"Have you managed to dig up anything else on the Book of Darkness?" Chrono's voice was serious as always as he spoke into the communication monitor.

"Other than a few reports detailing the previous incidents not much." Yuno sighed and invoked a small magical array to draw in another book. "There are a few references I have to check still, and the entire library has been so poorly maintained that I am probably missing half of the information just because it isn't properly categorized."

"This is not surprising." Chrono sighed and leaned back in his chair. "The infinite library was setup to transcribe near every inch of digital data our ships collect, but it's creators were killed when it was completed in the last war the TSAB was involved in. We just haven't had someone with the expertise to deal with the massive amount of data it houses."

Yuno hung his head in depression. "That's like what, fifty years of neglect with books still being added?"

"Something like that." Chrono shrugged and found a small cup next to his monitor. Taking a sip he continued. "Of course that means you are now the defacto head librarian."

"What?!" Yuno grabbed his side of the monitor and brought his face close to the camera portion and glared at Chrono.

"As a citizen of Mid-Childa, and specifically of the Scryer clan we don't need parental permission to draft you. Congratulations head librarian."

"Erk." Yuno let the monitor go and looked a bit unnerved. He actually knew what laws Chrono was speaking of, and unfortunately the boy didn't have much in the way of options right now.

Chrono set down his cup with a small clink. "After the compulsory two year service you are perfectly capably of resigning, but I wouldn't advise it. The Head Librarian of the Infinite Library has a salary equivalent to a high grade officer, or Ace, and someone of your capability would probably be able to negotiate near unlimited benefits.."

Yuno just hung his head in resignation.

* * *

The massive beast fell to the ground with a ground trembling thud, kicking up dust and debris that billowed across the deserted landscape. High above the creature Signum floated next to Shamal. Both knights looked slightly battered, but otherwise fine.

"These beasts give some power," Signum spoke as she sheathed Laevatein. "But it's barely enough to be worth it."

"It's the best we have found so far." Shamal shook her head and snapped the book closed. "I'm looking for better sources, but since we want to stay out of regular TSAB routes we really don't have a lot of options."

"Do your best Shamal." Signum began to scan the desert dunes for more signs of the massive worms that they had targeted as the best source of magical energy. "We will manage somehow."

"Things would be better if Vita were functional again." Shamal spoke in frustration as she began to setup a scanning array.

"No point in wishing." Signum said in reply. "We are outnumbered and our opponents are equivalent enough in power that we can't just overwhelm them. The only way we could win in a direct confrontation would be if we stack the odds in our favor."

"And how would we do that." Shamal finished the array and began to scan the nearby dimensions. A complicated series of runes and glyphs appeared in front of her and began to change periodically.

Signum blinked a few times and looked down at the near dead worm beast below her. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

"Nanoha?" Arisa opened the door to the room slowly. The scene in front of her made her blink in confusion.

In front of her Nanoha was watching some sumo show sleepily, and on her lap both Fate and Ranma were sleeping soundly. The girl was reclining on a large beanbag chair and slowly stroking her friend's heads with a soft smile. To the side was a broken controller, and there were feathers everywhere. To top it all off a small red dog was gnawing on another controller off to the side.

"What happened?" Suzuka blinked in absolute confusion as she looked at the scene.

"Ranma get's stir crazy when he's injured." Nanoha yawned and her head slumped back . "Next time I'm using rope." She mumbled as she passed out.

"Ummm." Suzuka pulled the door closed. "We will come back later."

"They are gonna be in so much trouble.." Arisa snickered. "Where is the camera?"


	7. Chapter 7

Ranma rolled his neck and flexed his shoulders as he adjusted the armor that he had so recently gotten. It was bulky in some places, but the majority of it was flexible enough that his movement wasn't restricted by a serious amount. Amusingly enough the biggest obstacle for him was the cape. It looked impressively flashy, but the wind resistance it caused was massive. That said, Ranma liked it because of the way it obscured his movement to an opponent.

Across the mat Nanoha stood quietly as she communed with Raging Heart. She was in her full battle gear as well, but the contrast between the two's attitudes was a study in contrasts. Ranma's movements were jerky and quick while Nanoha's had a sort of deliberate sense of purpose. It was a reflection of their respective styles. Both children were still growing, but there was a very clear sense of their power, and the direction that power was going in.

Fate sat on the sidelines, stroking her familiar Arf's fur with a small smile on her face. Ranma seemed to be recovering nicely, and this sparring session was going to be a test of that recovery. She didn't like to watch these sessions as much as Nanoha, but it was very obvious that Ranma enjoyed every minute he spent fighting the two. Fate and Nanoha indulged him in this, his joy was something special to both the girls, just as their joy was something that Ranma would enjoy bringing out as well.

"So glad that we managed to make this a secret session," Arf commented from her position at Fate's side. "When you did this we had half the room full of spectators."

At some unspoken signal both children tensed, and began to move in unison, though movement was an understatement. They blurred with speed. Ranma's cloak snapped in the wind as the boy swept forward, directly at Nanoha. At the same time the girl leaped into the air, and hovered near the ceiling a low grade charge already built up in Raging Heart.

"This is the first time we have sparred since Raging Hear was upgraded isn't it?" Nanoha called out as her staff lit up impossibly bright.

Ranma chuckled and a sigil lit up under his feet as he invoked his limited magical skills. "No Cartridges!" He called out as his form dropped into the ground like it was water.

Nanoha laughed out loud as she swept her staff back at the sigil she saw formed behind her. Ranma swept out of the sigil with a wide grin on his face. The staff fired off, the low grade blast slamming harmlessly into the ceiling as Ranma twisted around the attack and right next to Nanoha. The girl's smile never wavered as she brought her staff up to block Ranma's first strike. Then, almost casually she brought one of her hands up to Ranma's face and set off the small magical charge she had built up.

Ranma's body was knocked back from the impact. The blast itself was weak by it's very nature, a magical bullet designed for a very quick strike, but versus the comparatively weakly armored Ranma it was perfect for what Nanoha needed it for, space for something bigger.

Ranma shook his head to clear the soot from the impact. Even as he did this he was moving to be sure that he landed on his feet, and with a small click he detached one of the spaulders on his shoulders. Ranma's vision cleared just in time to spot a massive pink beam of light illuminating the room. His response was done in a matter of milliseconds. The cape came off, and was used to obscure his form as the boy shifted his body.

The beam was still low grade, more a simulation than an actual attack. It still impacted the cloak with terrific force, scraping against Ranma's skin with a static crackle. A very near miss, but enough for Ranma to still be in the game.

It was then Nanoha's turn to defend. The metal shoulder discus arced through the air, humming from the spin imparted to it from Ranma's desperate throw. It impacted against Raging Heart with a loud clang, and sped off to the side. Almost too late Nanoha noticed the second one thrown after it, and she moved to avoid. The girl was surprised then when another metal object zipped by her head. She flinched and then looked around her with wide eyes as the two spaulders zipped at her again.

"Yeek!" Nanoha yelped in surprise as the discuses zipped by her dodging form.

"That's new." Arf noted from the side. "Rather complex movement magic, especially without a device."

"Not particularly useful though." Fate pointed out, noting that Ranma was straining severely to maintain the movement sigils. "Shame that trick wouldn't work with energy blasts, those spaulders hurt, but it's taking everything he has to keep it up."

Indeed, soon after Fate said it, Ranma was forced to drop the spell. Nanoha, mildly peeved responded quickly, and not altogether gently. The pink blast was weak yes, but it was strong enough to give Ranma something akin to sunburn. It counted as a win for Nanoha still.

* * *

To get to the TSAB headquarters from Earth one had to go through several warp points, have clearance up to a certain level, and just a bit of luck and planning. If it was on an established route the travel time was short and sweet. Earth however was out of the way, isolated, and quite frankly not nearby anything of interest to the TSAB. The only reason that the organization kept an eye on it at all was the simple fact that most debris tended to end up on Earth due to some fluke of dimensional drift.

Quite frankly the trip from earth to the hub that was TSAB's headquarters was something that one simply couldn't do in one day. That Lindy and Chrono had both traveled here just emphasized the importance of this one meeting. That didn't mean that Lindy and Chrono still couldn't get some work done.

"Apparently Ranma has fully recovered." Lindy spoke softly as she deactivated the video recording of the latest sparring session. "That boy continues to amaze me."

Chrono shrugged as he walked down the hallway, his mother following him sedately. "I've learned never to underestimate him. While Nanoha and Fate are possible to predict and therefore plan for, once Ranma is added to the mix everything changes."

"I think it's amusing that we found such bright children on a Lost Logia hunt." Lindy clasped her hands in front of her in a brief moment of prayer. "I can only pray that half of our missions end so promising."

"Pray harder." Chrono stopped and shook his head at, visibly un-tensing himself. "Sorry mother, I am tense."

"I know." The teal haired woman sighed and looked up at the ceiling lights. "We have so much to do, and so few people to do it with. By all predictions, Nanoha's world is the one that the Book of Darkness is on, and we have no clues where the master is, and how long we have left."

"We need more information," Chrono replied as they finally arrived at the room that had been requested for the meeting. "And possibly more troops."

Lindy made a face. "I requested some, but to be frank Earth simply doesn't have priority."

The black haired teenager sighed and hung his head for a moment in near shame. The simple burst of emotion was all Chrono would allow himself before he straightened. "You never think that it will happen to you, until it does."

"Resources and manpower are always needed." Lindy gave a half smile of shared misery. "We have Nanoha and her friends, it will have to suffice."

Chrono nodded once and opened up the door and strode into the room. Seated in a simple cushioned chair was an Admiral of the TSAB, and one of his familiars, an attractive cat eared woman. The man was Admiral Graham, a very prominent figure in the TSAB, and one of the few magus to come from Earth. He was also one of the few surviving people who had interacted with the Book of Darkness.

"Oh, I hope you weren't kept waiting long." Lindy perked up and walked into the room.

"Nonsense," Graham waved his hand at the tea pot as he spoke. "Take a seat, relax."

Lindy smiled and took a seat as Chrono warily walked into the room. She pour herself a tea cup as her son was tackled from the side by Graham's other familiar. The boy let out a loud yelp of surprise and protest as the cat eared woman mercilessly began to torment the boy by smothering him in affection.

"Now, I can guess why you wanted to have this meeting, so I have dug up some of my old reports for you to look at." Graham leaned forward and held out a small hand held. "To be quite honest it probably won't be that useful to you." The man sighed and leaned back after Lindy took the device.

Lindy's eyes flickered slightly as she looked over the report. Finally she sighed and set down the tablet dejectedly. "Not much that we don't know." The woman winced slightly as she thought of it. "At least this confirms that we probably won't be able to contain it any better now that we could be back then."

"We tried, and even looking back on it I can't say I would do it differently." The man winced at the thought. "That we lost the ship and all hands is my greatest shame. We tried to contain the book and keep in away from everyone, but in the end we just lost it, and the ship," Graham sighed deeply. "And my son, your husband."

"That was yummie!" The cat-girl molesting Chrono got to her feet with a wide smile.

A frazzled Chrono got up beside her and was quickly pushed into the seat next to Lindy. Trying to ignore the entire incident the boy picked up the data tablet and looked over Graham's report. He frowned at the contents.

Graham nodded to his grandson and continued to speak. "Near as I can tell the Book of Darkness latches on and creates a feedback loop with it's user. It eats away at the user to power itself, and then sends that power out again in one terrific burst. Trying to isolate it just makes the thing attach itself to the surrounding environment instead of a person."

To the side the calm cat-girl just smiled at Chrono maternally. "Fortunately the knights are beatable, and if killed can only be reformed with a fairly large cost. My sister and I have also managed to cobble together enough information about the victims and observed patterns to give a general location of the master, and the number of pages left. It's at the end of the report."

Chrono scrolled down and nodded. "Worst case scenario is something accomplish-able I think. It would be better if we had more troops though."

"Two A class mage with moderate training, and a mage with an unusual style that seems tailor made to destroy Balkan-style mages, and you need more?" Admiral Graham raised an eyebrow. "I understand your need, but I don't control deployments for the sector Earth is in, and to be frank the admiral in charge of your sector is already spread fairly thin."

Lindy nodded. "I got that impression."

"We would come too!" The perky cat-girl flopped half her body over the side of the cough were Chrono was. "But we are in the middle of some hush-hush stuff, and can't get free consistently enough to help when you get an emergency."

"And Genma is secreted in a test of some sort because of that Neko-Ken training he subjected Ranma to." Chrono muttered and pressed a hand to his head in exasperation, scooting slightly away from the over affectionate cat-girl.

"I will say you handled that well." Graham pointed out with pride. "You kept it quiet, you kept a boy with his father, and you kept a potential situation from escalating into something that would have amounted to another incident."

"Oh, and that cute little librarian you dug up too!" The calm cat-girl smiled and clapped her hands together in appreciation. "He has managed to get so much done in so little time."

"Information is power," Lindy said in agreement. "Unfortunately it only emphasizes why the Book of Twilight was renamed to the Book of Darkness."

"A magical library turned into a terror weapon." Graham spoke softly, and with obvious weariness. "I think the remnants of that war will haunt us for centuries."

Lindy sighed and nodded. "So we can't get reinforcements, and we can't contain the book even if we manage to get the thing away from it's current master."

"Sucks doesn't it?" The perky cat-girl tumbled off the couch and onto her rear end her tail twitching madly.

"So the only way to stop Earth from being obliterated is to find the master of the book and kill him or her." Chrono spoke softly and seriously.

Graham nodded in agreement. "It looks that way. I've looked over those reports for years, and still haven't found a sure way to destroy the Book. However, I might have a way to seal it when the time comes."

"Really?" Lindy perked up a bit.

Graham's face looked cared in stone as he spoke. "I might not be able to get you more people, but if everything works right, I will be able to leverage your need into funding for a small project to seal the accursed thing for good, and I won't allow another incident like the one that cost my son."

* * *

"And then Nanoha and Fate played around a bit while Arf and I worked on those forms you told me to practice." Ranma's voice sounded happy as the boy beamed through the video phone at his father.

"Good work boy." Genma settled back in the soft chair and sighed in relief. "You are proving yourself quite well. Not many people can train themselves as well as they can be trained."

"Eh, pops?" Ranma peered at his father. "Ya sure you are feeling well? That almost sounded like a complement."

Genma snorted in response. "You are worlds away boy, and despite your maturity are still not even a teenager. Let an old man worry about his child."

The boy just chuckled in response. "Bein' all away from you all this time is makin' you sappy pops. I just gotta beat that out of you when you get home."

"Like you could boy. You still have a lot to learn." Genma shook his head with a soft chuckle. "I will speak with you again later."

"Later pops!" Ranma chirped and cut the connection.

With a sigh Genma rolled the chair back and felt his body crack in protest from the small action. The tests and observations about the style that he and Ranma had practiced had been mild when the boy was still there. However, after the boy had left they had ratcheted up significantly, this scientists far more confident about testing a full grown adult than a child.

It wasn't painful, but the tests and demonstrations were exhausting. In fact the shear breadth of what these 'magus' were capable of was both astonishing and terrifying at the same time. They were probably plumbing every secret they could out of this opportunity. The scientists thought with all their training and documentation that they were stealing all the secrets and tricks of Anything Goes right under his nose.

Of course, Genma reflected, it wasn't like he wasn't attempting to steal every hint of technique from them in return. He was a bit too set in his ways to really take full advantage of everything he was learning, but he was already determining possibilities, and new ideas for techniques old and new. It amusing Genma, when he took to time to think privately what was ultimately going to happen.

In the grand scheme of things, while Anything Goes was a formidable style, and the basics behind Ki were important, but they took far too long to train to be of use militaristically. A proper Ki master took at least ten years of constant training before they could even begin to manifest like a mage could do within the month. The biggest property of Anything Goes wasn't the tricks, or the stances, or the countless other things that these scientists were documenting. It was the mindset.

Ranma was already a far better student of Anything Goes than Genma himself. That was fine to the adult though, his greatest wish was to see his son become something grand, and the boy was already making his mark on the fields of battle. Genma would jump through a few hoops, snatch what the TSAB let him snatch, and allow himself to become the focus for them all. It was Ranma who would change everything, and all Genma had to do was let the boy make his mark on those two other children.

Fate and Nanoha were the TSAB's prodigies, their little gems hidden away. Chrono and Lindy might hide it, or have missed it, but Genma knew talent. His strength had never been in techniques or power, or countless other things that made a master. His talent was finding spectacular people, in identifying them, and in bringing that potential to the forefront.

Genma had plans for his son, but he was still a Master of Anything Goes. That meant that plans would change, and would change again and again every time he found something else.

* * *

True war, true battle was a series of pitched battles combined with mind numbing, nerve wracking waiting. Sadly, this was true of near all forms of combat or enforcement. For Nanoha and the others this waiting was punctuated by a series of false alarms, training sessions, and briefing sessions as well as school work and other more personal issues.

Ranma wasn't exempt. Normally Genma either home schooled the boy, or dropped him in the nearest school for a small battery of tests and catch-up work for school. Since right now he was under Lindy's command he was instead dragged to school with Nanoha and Fate.

The boy made few friends there. Sure, he was generally polite and friendly, but the children kept their distance from him. There was a wall between him and normality that the other children recognized and tried not to cross.

Honestly the boy didn't really care much about it. Had he been with his father he would have been dragged away within the month for more training. He might have found one or two people to bug into friendship, but with Nanoha and Fate there the boy honestly didn't care about the rest of the school. It made for an interesting scene often. Fate got swarmed by people because of her beauty and kindness, and then Ranma came barreling in, dragging the girl away to the general consternation of the rest of the class. Then one or two children would chase down the boy, and Nanoha would be forced to step in to prevent a child mob from forming.

All too soon the alert came in. The knights had been spotted, and every day life was put on hold again. Fate, Ranma and Nanoha were called in, and sent out in an instant. Signum and Vita had been spotted, and the three child warriors were sent out again into war.

* * *

_We've picked them up on opposite side of the same world. Since Vita is most likely still injured we can drop Nanoha right on her and have that battle over quickly. _

With a flash of light and a hiss of static Nanoha's form appeared mid-air, meters away from Vita's flying form. The two hovered a moment over a lush inviting forest, before the red haired knight darted away as fast as possible. Nanoha gave chase.

_It's Signum we have to worry about. She's still uninjured, and she knows how Fate fights. I give it a good fifty-fifty chance of Fate winning. So we stack the odds. _

The crackle of the teleport was consumed by the winding wind. Two figured dropped gracefully onto the dunes of sand, landing with small puffs. In the distance stood Signum, serene and unflappable. The woman was unsurprised as Ranma and Fate looked at her with determination.

_Considering the behavior, and the lack of other knights, this might be a trap. However, we need to slow the collection of pages by any means necessary. This means we have to be careful. The power requirements for a direct teleport like this will allow us to send you, and that's it for a good ten or more minutes. _

Vita scoffed as she darted away from Nanoha's lunging strike. The tiny girl was obviously in pain, but none of it showed in her movements. Nanoha could respect her opponents toughness, but that didn't mean that she would go easy.

"Give up Vita." Nanoha began to charge her signature attack.

Vita scoffed again as she darted into the tree line. Patient Nanoha kept her attack just shy of firing, waiting for the first hint of movement. That unfortunately left her completely vulnerable to the snare that had been prepared beforehand. The binding lit up in a column of brilliant light drawn by the charged Raging Heart, and snapped around Nanoha's body with a crackle of immense power.

"Later!" Vita taunted and invoked her dimensional travel spell, sending her back home to a long rest.

Good Luck.

Signum grinned almost sadly at the two children opposing her. In the air floated Fate, beautiful and deadly. On the ground stood Ranma, stalwart and unstoppable. Both of them were formidable, but against this, they would be reduced to nothing.

"Forgive me." She murmured softly as she invoked the trap. "But if we are to win, I must shatter you."

A massive sigil lit up beneath them all. Rapidly in enveloped the three fighters, and expanded still further. The signature graying background heralded the barrier snapping into place. For a moment the two children were confused. There was no real reason for a barrier in this desolate place.

Then the ground began to rumble beneath Ranma's feet. Quick as thought the boy darted to the side, and watched in awe as the massive slithering worm like creature bellowed in rage as it erupted into the air. It was all sinew, writhing power, and teeth, and then it curved to look at Ranma. For a brief moment the boy felt a thrill of terror fission through his body.

"Ranma!" Fate yelped in fear as she found herself tumbling through the air from just the air currents of the creature's emergence.

Her movement to help was stopped by Signum's blade, the weapon forming a line between her and her friend. "I will be your opponent Testarossa." Signum's face was stoic.

"That's a biiig worm." Ranma deadpanned as he sprinted to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive crash as the beast brought it's body to the ground in an immensely powerful slam. _" __Lil__' __help__ here__ Fate__, __I__ don__'__t __got__ anything__ big __enough __to __actually __take __this __down__." _

_"I can't!" _Fate rolled in the air as she avoided Signum's arcing flame strike. _ "Signum is focusing on me." _

"Joy." Ranma yelped as the beast glowed, skittering back in preparation for another attack.

The worm groaned in anger as the arcane symbols flared brightly. Then like Ranma was a particularly tasty treat the worm focused on the boy with unnerving single mindedness. It's many toothed mouth opened like a massive fanged chasm, and it roared with unnatural potency, sending a cloud of sand speeding towards the tiny fighter like an explosion.

It hit Ranma like a typhoon, knocking him head over heels. The sand swirled and bit into his body, scratching and seeking against the barrier that his armor provided. Without that protection his skin would have been flayed. As it was, the boy tumbled into the ground and was burred under a massive dune of sand.

To the side, half Fate's attention was on Ranma, and half on Signum. This put her in a poor position. Signum's speed was just a fraction below hers, and it would have taken all her attention to keep ahead of the pink haired woman. With her distraction Signum's offensive might was rapidly taking it's toll. Her body was battered, and her bodysuit had a few small tears from near misses.

"To be forced to resort to such tactic's is not something that I am proud of." Signum's voice was soft, but it carried across the field. "But in war there is no room for ego filled contests." Laevatein hissed and clanked.

The beast's roar caused Fate's attention to turn for one critical instant, and Signum's strike hit her dead on, shattering her barriers and sending the tiny girl bouncing across the dunes. With a cough the girl rolled onto her knees, and looked at the dune that Ranma had been buried in. _"__RANMA__!"_

The boy's voice snapped back, furious as the entire dune exploded outward in a rush of movement magic. _ "__Fate__, __if__ you__ don__'__t __let __me __fight __this __and__ kick__ pinky__'__s __ass__.. __I__ will __kick__ YOUR __ass __instead__."_

Fate smiled fondly as the a circle of magic flared under the boy. "Bardiche?"

"SIR!" The device clanged and hissed as the pint sized girl swept her weapon in an arc to intercept Signum's blade in mid-air.

The weapons creaked as the two fighters locked them together in a test of strength. Signum smiled over the weapon. She seemed almost proud of the blonde haired girl. "Come then."

Both warriors blurred out of sight.

In the distance thee worm roared in frustration as Ranma's form blurred around it's exposed hide. The boy's strikes barely hurt it, but it was still irritating. Finally it wised up and began to twist downwards, diving into the sand with a titanic crash and beginning to burrow down.

Not wanting to be buried Ranma jumped off at the last second, cape snapping as he chuckled. So far the worm was proving to be rather predictable, and past the first surprises the thing was proving to be surprisingly easy to annoy at least.

A loud rumble alerted Ranma to where the worm was coming up next, and the boy prepped another transport spell. The thing took far to long to set up in Ranma's opinion, but it was a near ideal counter to his lack of flying capability. As the worm erupted out of the ground her inked the spell, and appeared right on top of the thing's head. Driving his fist down Ranma cursed his lack of siege style attacks. A massive blast of magic right now would have seriously helped.

The worm roared, and only Ranma's keen sense of danger allowed him to dodge the man sized fireball that impacted into the worm's head, right in his former spot. Several large fanged tendrils had unfurled from the side of the creature, and apparently they shot fireballs.

Ranma gulped as he spotted several more of the things. This would make things a little bit harder.

In the air Bardiche clanked and hissed with power, lighting up in a brilliant display of lighting magic. Laevatein, not to be outdone writhed like a snake as it swirled in whip form, trailing streamers of power in it's wake.

An explosion it up the air, Fate and Signum using magic blasts to intercept magic blasts. The explosions rocked the sky and glassed the sand as the two fighters clashed and counter clashed, using the brilliant blasts of light to obscure the faster, deadlier close ranged attacks.

Without a distraction Fate was able to use her superior speed to avoid Signum's far greater strength. It was an intense exercise that strained her body and pushed her to the very edge of her power. In the brief lulls between strikes, Fate noted that Ranma was rubbing off on her. Her blood was singing every time Bardiche clanked and hissed with power.

A lightning blast arced into the ground in a bare miss, and Fate's device clanged loudly as she deflected Laevatein's whip like form arcing towards her in retaliation. Both fighters dropped to the ground and looked across the field at each other, evaluating and planning the next move.

"Come on, Come on." Ranma muttered to himself as he scratched something into the side of the worm, frowning at the resulting numbers. Almost absent mindedly he dodged to the side, avoiding the fireball. The creature roared in rage and began to submerge itself.

Honestly Ranma was getting frustrated, and rather tired. There were no real weak points on this thing, and it was only a matter of time before he got seriously injured. _ "__Hey__ Nanoha__, __whats __the __answer__ to __this __equation__?_The boy sent a series of symbols mentally.

A minor sense of surprise and frustration tinted the reply, but the symbols sent made Ranma frown again._"__Thanks__."_

The boy sighed and unhooked his cape and swept the shoulder spaulders off his form. With a massive burst of sand the worm burst from it's burrow, fanged maw gaping wide. Ranma just looked at the thing seriously.

"Plasma!" A series of circles of glowing yellow light formed around Fate's body.

"Flying Dragon!" Signum whirled her weapon around her form in a wave of steel.

"Smasher!" Fate's attack blasted across the landscape.

"Flash!" Signum's responding blast was no less impressive.

The two blasts collided in a sparking shower of magic and power, devastating the entire length of the field between the two combatants. The fighters rode that wave of impact, using it to obscure their movements. Signum's whip like blade glowed and reformed into it's sword form, and the two fighters clashed loudly.

As Fate strained her body into moving faster, a brief transmission from Ranma made the girl jerk slightly, but ascend rapidly. Signum blinked at the change in tactics, but assumed that the girl was trying to get distance for another attack and followed.

The glowing sigil of movement magic appearing between the two fighters took both combatants by surprise. The glyph was far larger than most sigils, taking up what looked like near half the sky, and only Signum's years of experience let her avoid what came through the circle.

With a confused roar the worm lunged out of the circle and straight at the pink haired woman, dropping out of the sky and impacting into the sand with a bone shattering thud, damaging the creature beyond it's ability to fight. Both Fate and Signum paused their battle to look at the worm on the ground, and in unison looked to Ranma's waving form.

Signum's mouth worked for a moment before she chuckled. "I do believe I like your little knight."

"He grows on you." Fate smiled and had Bardiche load another cartridge

On the ground Ranma fell back with a flop. He was spent from that feat, and would probably need to be carried back.. He chuckled to himself, that nearly hadn't worked, but it had been spectacular.

A shadow coming over his form made the boy stop, and he barely got out a gasp as the blue haired man drove his hand into the boy's midsection, pulling out a small glimmering spark. "One down." The man spoke to the blonde haired knight next to him.

Shamal looked almost sick as she looked at the boy. "I don't like this."

"It is either this, or your master dies." The man's voice carried no inflection, he could have been talking about the weather for all he cared. "On the next lull I will disable the other one."

Shamal nodded, her gaze darting from the formerly enscrolled, and now very dead worm to Fate and Signum fighting. "I don't have to like this."

"Do what you will." The man disappeared and reappeared behind Fate unnoticed, hand darting forward in one smooth motion.

"I'm so sorry." Shamal knelt down and cast a small spell of recovery on the downed and unconscious boy. "But for her we will do anything necessary."

* * *

"You are becoming a regular here I see." The doctor observed clinically as he observed the readouts displayed on the small hand-held that contained the data from Ranma's examination. "I'm really displeased by that."

"I ain't to happy about it either." Ranma commented from his reclined position in bed. "I feel like I got my half my soul ripped out."

"That's as good an explanation as any." The doctor commented clinically as he scrolled the information down. Finally he sighed and set down the data-pad. "Near as I can tell your unusual healing technique is compensating for the massive damage caused by the linker core drain, but because the spell patterns have been so engraved in your magical aura that you are automatically healing yourself."

"Huh?" Ranma slid off the bed and staggered.

"Instead of the long recovery your friend Fate will have to deal with, you should be fine in about half the time. However, you will be far weaker than she will be. Your magic is being drained to help you recover faster, and if you don't take it easy you will slip into a coma from magic exhaustion." The man treating Ranma sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "Normally I would actually recommend that your magic be sealed to prevent you from injuring yourself, but you are on emergency call duty."

"The whole Earth will go boom if we can't find the Book's master in time." Ranma shrugged, and took a few experimental steps. "This sucks."

"Indeed." The doctor sighed and opened the door to the small room where he had been treating Ranma. "I wouldn't advise any serious magical exertion for at least a week, probably longer. Fortunately physical exertion is fine this time."

Ranma smiled and walked slowly out of the room, staggering slightly as he reached the door. "Ya know, I think this time I can actually follow that order."

"If I see you again, I'm recommending a magical seal placed on your for medical reasons." The doctor said flatly as he watched the boy. "Remember that."

Ranma waved a hand halfheartedly as he walked down the hallway and towards where Fate and Nanoha were finishing up. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the concern, more that he didn't care how much damage he took so long as his world was safe.

"You two had me so worried." Nanoha spoke softly as Ranma approached the two children. "I was halfway across the world and could only cheer you on."

"Yeah, sorry." Ranma smiled halfheartedly, deprived of his usual energy.

Nanoha frowned in reply and poked the boy with her index finger. "Did the doctor say something bad that he didn't tell us?"

"Nah, just that my technique is eating up my Ki." Ranma shrugged. "Unfortunately whatever those knights ripped out most of my soul, so I kinda don't have as much energy as I should."

"What technique is this?" Fate asked curiously as she walked out of the doctor's room.

"It's that one that makes it so you can't scar isn't it?" Nanoha asked curiously.

Ranma nodded in reply, taking a deep breath and sticking his hands in his pockets. The three children began to walk down the hall, Nanoha in the center. "Yeah, it's called Embers Re-lit." The boy twitched slightly at the name. "It's really really nasty to learn, but it's good for healing quick. Pops says that it makes it really easy to recover from accidents, but it's better not to get hurt in the first place."

"That makes sense." Fate replied.

"That's the second time you talked about that." Nanoha tacked onto Fate's statement. "How exactly do you train it?"

"It involves hot pokers," Ranma replied with a straight face. "I learned it after I was injured enough that I would have taken months to recover. It hurts, badly."

"Urk." Both girls flinched at the images generated by that simple statement.

"Every time I hear about a training session you go through I either flinch in pain or think that your father is one of the worst parents alive." Fate sighed out, looking at the ceiling. "And then I remember how warm he can be, and all that effort he put into cheering me up when Arf and I were awaiting trial."

"Pops can be an idiot." Ranma smiled crookedly at the two girls. "But he usually knows what someone can handle and what they can't. He skirts the knifes edge, but I haven't broken yet."

"Half of that is because you are one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met." Nanoha replied with a very warm smile. "You, Fate, and Yuno. My most dear and cherished friends."

Fate smiled warmly back at Nanoha. "I'm glad I have you both."

"Aww, so sappy!" Ranma chuckled and moved so that he could grab both girls. "Come here, big group hug!"

"Gack!" Nanoha found herself gripped roughly with one arm. Across from Ranma's body she saw Fate was in similar straits. The brown haired girl grinned evil and wiggled the fingers of one hand, and saw Fate's face flash in understanding.

"Hey, hey!" Ranma wiggled away laughing. "No tickling."

"It's Fate, and Nanoha's secret technique!" Nanoha laughed as she chased after Ranma's running form.

"Anything-goes tickle torture!" Fate chimed in, following with a wide smile.

"Noo!" Ranma mock despaired. "My ultimate weakness!"

* * *

Countless years in the service of the Book of Darkness had given the Wolkenritter unmatched experience, near limitless willpower, and near perfect teamwork. These advantages had always allowed them to fight organizations and countries with resources that outstripped them a hundredfold. One knight was capable of eliminating near any mage, and all four of them working together had taken down countries.

All of this experience however, had never taken into account the way Hayate treated them. The tiny crippled girl had never seen them as tools or as weapons. She didn't order them to kill, or to destroy. Under her authority they had gone shopping, went to various events, and lived. In all their collective experience this had never happened.

In the past without fail the pattern had remained the same. Manifest with the Book of Darkness, pledge service to the new master, and then be used onto death. Very few could pass up ultimate power, and none could pass up the miracle that the completed Book of Darkness promised. Some masters were kind, others were callous, but all of them had wished for the same thing. Hayate actively discouraged that line of thinking. To the tiny girl, each and every knight was a precious family member.

This unprecedented attitude had captured their hearts and souls. Before the only thing that drove the knights was their honor in service. Under Hayate this service was something more, something beyond mere allegiance and into absolute love. It might strike one as strange that this very love allowed the knights to actually do something that they had never done in their entire service towards the Book of Darkness.

They disobeyed a direct order.

The Wolkenritter were constructs. An advanced form of computer, or android, they might have been indistinguishable between humans, but they were were still only imperfect copies. To disobey should have been beyond them. To disobey meant that they were evolving, that they were changing. Hayate's simple wish had accomplished something that was beyond the scope of what the Book of Darkness should have been capable of.

Of course these abstract thoughts were beyond the knights right now. Right now their thoughts were turned more towards how to be sure that their disobedience was not discovered before the book was completed. Their absences had been noted by their tiny mistress, but so far had been concealed by various excuses. Had they been a bit more experienced in human interaction they might have been a bit better at concealment. As it was, every time they went to battle, Hayate suffered a little.

Every time the knights found Hayate at the house, asleep on the counter waiting for them to come home, they ached with pain. Hayate was their world, and to see her worry about them sent some indescribable pain shooting through their hearts and souls.

"We are almost done with the book." Shamal noted quietly as Signum scooped up the tiny brown haired girl. "Just a little more, and we can stay with her for as long as she will have us." The blonde nodded at the pink haired knight and began to clean up the various dishes left out for dinner.

Signum smiled at the child in her arms. "For her, we can handle anything."

"I don't doubt that," Vita yawned out as she walked up to their shared bedroom. "But I wouldn't object to it happening a bit faster."

"It will happen when it will happen." Signum shrugged and set Hayate on the bed, covering the girl up snugly. Vita crawled into the other side, one arm clutching a floppy eared stuffed rabbit. "How are your ribs?"

"Healed finally." Vita mumbled. "It pisses me off that the little bastard recovered faster than me."

Signum chuckled softly at the redhead. "Remind me to tell you about what he did in our trap later." Signum had a lot of respect for her current opponents. So young, but so very formidable.

"Don't wanna hear about the lil' bashterd." Vita slurred out as she rapidly fell asleep.

Signum chuckled and descended into the kitchen. There Shamal was putting a few used dishes into the sink. At her feet lay Zafira, the familiar lazing around in his canine form shamelessly. Both knights perked up when Signum walked in.

"Hayate tucked in?" Shamal asked casually.

"And fast asleep. Vita's out as well, but she says she's fully healed." Signum replied immediately.

Shamal nodded and finished with the dishes. "I am worried at the unknown's assistance."

Signum grimaced and took a seat, crossing her arms and leaning back. "As near as I can tell he's someone with full access to the enemies resources. We haven't told anyone about our activities, and to catch up to use like he has been doing implies either a large amount of resources, or a tap on what the enemy knows about us."

"Either way it's not a good thing that he is interfering, even if it's on our side." Zafira commented from his place on the floor.

"Assisting the enemy to gain the pages of the book, and then assassinating the current holder in the hopes of taking the book before completion." Signum closed her eyes in contemplation. "Fortunately I don't think they know how close we are to finishing it."

"We can't let our guard down," Zafira replied seriously.

Shamal took a seat opposite Signum and smiled briefly. "Since we need so little, we can probably just have one of us go out quickly and grab the rest discretely somewhere nearby."

Signum nodded in agreement. "If we go for low value targets, it might be possible to avoid detection and avoid danger."

"So long as we don't get into conflict with the TSAB again." Zafira commented dryly.

"Hopefully Fate will be out for awhile." Signum winced in recollection. "I might not like what that man did to her, but it will give us some leeway while collecting."

"We still have the brown haired girl Nanoha, and possibly the boy Ranma to worry about." Shamal pointed out.

Zafira closed his eyes and sighed. "Considering the fact that the previous encounters failed to keep him down for a significant amount of time we probably still have him to worry about."

"That boy is probably the most dangerous to us out of them all." Signum commented softly with a small chuckle. "I don't think we have ever fought someone who's style is so well suited to taking out a Belken Knight."

"Shame we couldn't have meet them all in better circumstances." Shamal replied with a smile of recollection. "To find people so determined and so pure fighting us is almost too much."

A loud scream stopped the conversation dead. Immediately Signum manifested her sword and charged up the stairs to Hayate's room, Shamal close behind. Zafira, knowing that the upstairs was covered immediately went out the front door, checking to see where the entry point of the enemy is.

"Hayate!" Vita's voice screamed out.

Signum took Hayate's condition in a glance. "She's having an episode of some sort!"

"I got the ambulance coming right now!" Shamal's answer was immediate.

On the bed the brown haired girl curled up into a ball and let out another pain filled scream, her hand over her heart. There was little the rest of the knights could do but wait and watch helplessly.


	8. Chapter 8

Deep breaths, focus, concentration. The keys to properly utilizing anything was basically the same. Will. Beyond ego, beyond anything mystical, there was will. To have will was to grasp the heavens and to break from hells. To focus, to breathe, and then to push forward.

Ranma had actually learned bits and pieces of this as he grew and progressed in his chosen art. As soon as he could walk he had been taught to fight. Signum called him a knight. In a way he was, but at his core Ranma was a Martial Artist. He found art in movement, beauty in the clash between people, and in the dead of night, when there was nothing but the stars in the sky, and the moon was hidden in shadow Ranma would go out and practice the form he had learned first.

It was Genma's greatest accomplishment. The man could have failed in all else, but he had succeeded in the one point where it counted. Ranma loved Martial Arts. He truly saw the art in it. It was why the boy practiced every day. Why he thought in terms of battle and war.

It was probably the only thing that Nanoha and Fate would never really and truly understand about the boy. Their love was magic. Sure combat was part of this, and in this they did excel, but they would be content in peace and security. To set aside the blade and pick up the tool would cause them no hardship.

Despite this lack of understanding, the girls did know one thing about their favorite boy. The day Ranma stopped would be the day he died. There would be nothing else that would stop him. In sickness or in health, in weakness or strength Ranma vibrated with energy and movement. Serenity and Ranma were anathema to each other. Really, that was probably his charm.

"You know," Nanoha kicked her feet in the air as she rested on her stomach. "I don't think I have ever seen you do that so slowly."

"Eh, I usually don't feel like it." Ranma breathed out and slowly moved through his forms. "But whatever they did ta me makes me want to curl up in the sun and sleep." Deep inhale and push forward. "Doc says that it should go away soon hopefully."

"It looks a lot simpler than your usual fare," Fate commented as she rested lazily against the tree.

"Everyone starts somewhere." The boy chuckled and relaxed his body, going through a series of stretches. "I learned what I just did when I was five I think, the memory is kinda hazy."

The aftermath of the last battle had left everyone tense and alert, but for whatever reason the Wolkenritter had not followed up on the advantage, and while Midchilden sensibilities towards children were far different than most Earth cultures they were still treated with delicacy. Lindy had forcefully put Nanoha and the other children on leave until there were signs that the Wolkenritter were moving again.

It had put Fate and Nanoha off for a moment, but the two had quickly gotten involved in a few things in their classes. Ranma however had been a bit more restless. Even injured as he was the boy still had to move, and the children that Nanoha and Fate were so involved in made the child jumpy. A picnic had been quickly decided to help calm the boy down not even a week into their forced rest. A large meal. a a lot of lazing around for the girls, and exercise for the boy was just what the doctor ordered.

"You started learning young." Nanoha commented softly.

Fate shrugged from her place. "I think I started learning the basics of magic around that time." She frowned slightly and looked up at the sky. "Or more accurately the girl I was based on did."

"Hey!" Ranma barked from his place a few feet away. "No getting sad! This is supposed to cheer me up, not get you depressed."

Nanoha giggled at the boy. "You know I think he's right Fate."

Fate sighed and brushed her hair back, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. "I suppose so." She smirked and walked to where Ranma was. "You are supposed to be really tired right now right?"

"Yeah." Ranma raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Doesn't mean that I am weak tho'."

"Well, lets test that." Fate smiled brightly at Ranma and tilted her head. Sending a quiet mental message to Nanoha, Fate shifted her weight. "Didn't Nanoha beat you at wrestling when she first met you?"

Ranma snorted at the girl and crossed his arms. "Yeah, after I ran all day."

"Well then, I suppose you should be used to this then!" Nanoha cackled from behind Fate and both girls tackled the startled boy.

"Hey!" Ranma yelped as he was brought down to the ground.

"Quick, get the ribbons!" Nanoha's voice echoed across the park.

"Wait, wait!" Ranma yelped. "This is supposed to cheer me up, not humiliate me!"

"I got the camera." Fate giggled as she held down Ranma.

The resulting picture from this incident was thereafter referred to as the ribbon incident. A rather potent weapon in Fate's ever growing arsenal of blackmail photos. Only the wine incident photo would more potent against Ranma. How Fate found out about that particular photo was a rather different story though.

* * *

"Reviewing the combat recordings hasn't really given us a clue as to why there have been no signs of the Wolkenritter." Lindy sighed and leaned back in the command chair.

The rest of the people on the bridge were professional enough not to comment on their commander's exasperation, but it was fairly obvious that they shared it. The only one on the bridge that really didn't show any signs of distress was Chrono.

"About the only information we have gotten is Signum's combat potential." The boy commented calmly as he reviewed a particular segment. "We can't even evaluate the third party that interfered, there is simply not enough information."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Lindy sighed and looked at the screen showing the blue haired, masked man that had shown up briefly to end the battle. "Still the simple fact that he shwoed up gives us some information."

"There is a leak in our command structure." Chrono commented decisively. "There is no other explanation. The Wolkenritter are clearly surprised, and his style is completely different from theirs, so he's not part of them. He's also not in the fight often enough to be their ally. Finally he showed up right when the Wolkenritter were about to suffer a decisive loss."

"I will admit that that is the most likely explanation." Lindy sat up and began reviewing the footage of the fight again. "However, the leak would have to be fairly high up for this masked man to interfere when and how he did. I dislike the implications."

"As do I." Chrono frowned and began to turn around. "I will begin my own inquiries if you don't mind."

Lindy waved as Chrono walked off. "Such a serious boy. Not at all like the other member of our team eh?"

"You mean Ranma?" One of the technicians manning the bridge asked.

"Of course." Lindy giggled as she rewound the footage to show the crowing achievement of the last fight. "Innovative use of movement magic, especially without a device."

"He's reaching his limit though." The reply came from another technician as what looked like a bar graph was projected on Ranma's image. "You can see how much magic he has left from that stunt, and to be honest once Nanoha and Fate fully adapt to the cartridge system they will leave him in the dust."

"As he is Ranma will fall behind." Lindy pursed her lips and looked thoughtful for a moment. "But we know he's not at his peak yet. Genma's been very cooperative, but it's become obvious that he's held back a lot of what he's capable of."

"Doesn't help us much right now."

"True." Lindy smiled gently. "But power is only part of the equation." The woman paused and leaned back. "You know I did ask Nanoha to speak with Ranma if it was necessary for him to stop fighting. Do you know what she said?"

The rest of the bridge looked at their captain curiously. For her to speak like this meant that she was going to relate something interesting.

"She said that it would be cruel." Lindy's smile widened. "She must have noticed my confusion, so she explained. Nanoha, Fate, and Ranma consider each other family, or something more than that if possible." Lindy chuckled softly and swept her hair back. "I took note of their interactions later. I have never seen that level of trust in children. Most adults don't have that level of trust. Together, I doubt that there is anything in this reality that can stand against them."

Lindy looked at the silent bridge for a moment with that smile still on her face. "I think that's something that I would protect with my life."

* * *

Nanoha rolled the gem that was Raging Heart in her hand thoughtfully as the teacher continued her lesson. Like small flickering motes of light, the device danced at the edges of her mind. Raging Heart was heavy, not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense. At first it had been hard, but nowadays she could barely notice the burden that the device placed on her. She felt the absolute dedication of the device yes, but the weight was nearly non-existent to her.

Yuuno had asked about the burden of the device once, and she had been surprised to learn that most people couldn't handle the massive power consumption that even a resting device had. It was perhaps a measure of how unusual she was. Only Fate had the sheer potential that she had, and in the depths of night Nanoha knew with bone deep certainty that she would never find an equal quite like the blonde girl.

The teacher's voice suddenly raised, and Nanoha flinched instinctively as an eraser flew through the air at a fellow student. The projectile was deflected harmlessly up into the air, and neatly dropped onto the head of the student next to the target. The target, Ranma, slept on with total serenity ignorant of the fact that he had pissed off half the classroom yet again.

Nanoha smiled softly to herself and caught sight of Fate doing the same. While Fate was her equal in all ways, Ranma was in many ways her opposite. His potential was in his body and mind, not in his magic. She knew he strained and bled for his power. In a way he served as the anchor for both Fate and herself. A fragile life that refused to stop despite the odds.

Unfortunately Ranma's unique nature made him far more at odds with the rest of the world. Everything was battle to the boy, and while he could be said to have acquaintances, he just couldn't relate to other children his age. Nanoha had Alisa and Suzuka to ground her to normality. Fate was just too gentle to really offend people, but Ranma sometimes seemed to go out of his way to offend people.

The end of the current class and the start of physical education really underscored the problem.

"Maybe if it was all of you versus me, then maybe you could beat me." Ranma nodded seriously.

"Ha! You pain in the!" Nanoha's blonde haired friend was cut off mid-sentence by the purple haired girl next to her.

"Alisa!" Suzuka interrupted with something akin to chagrin.

"What, you can't disagree with the fact that he is one!" Alisa yelled out pointing at a very amusing looking Ranma.

Suzuka blushed deep red. "Well..."

Ranma laugh out loud. "Tell ya what, me versus an entire team in volleyball. Maybe then it will be an actual challenge."

"Fine then, don't go crying if you lose!" Alisa stalked off, pointing at a few random students. "You, you and you, on that side of the field!"

"Umm.." Suzuka stood next to Nanoha and Fate nervously. "I think they are at it again."

"It's better than the rest of the class chasing him with pitchforks again." Nanoha sighed and hung her head in shame.

Fate giggled. "You had to admit it was entertaining to see an actual pitchfork and torch carrying mob."

"Nooo!" Nanoha waved her arms in distress. "The teachers already make the sign of evil when they see him laugh, do you WANT to see them cringe in fear?"

"Well, not really.." Fate replied softly. "But Ranma seems to enjoy it."

"He's a strange boy." Suzuka watched the volleyball match start like one would watch a train wreck in progress. "He really only gets along with you two."

Nanoha shrugged. "Ranma's actually really nice, once you realize that him annoying you is just his way of saying hi."

"Didn't you tackle him down and wrestle him into submission when you first met him?" Fate deadpanned.

Suzuka's eyes went wide. "I've seen him break stone with his hands!"

"Erk." Nanoha's face twitched at the concern in her friend's face. "I was fine, he was really careful!"

"If you say so." Suzuka sighed and watch the volleyball game degenerate into a volleyball war. "Are you still going to visit Hayate in the hospital with us?"

"Of course," Nanoha nodded in reply. "I want to see this new friend of yours anyway. Do you want us to bring Ranma?"

"Well, if you can keep him from speaking.." Suzuka replied hesitantly.

Both Fate and Nanoha giggled at Suzuka's expression. "We will bring cookies."

"AIEEE!!!"

"I think Ranma's getting carried away again." Nanoha's looked both exasperated and fond.

"Don't worry, I locked the tool-shed this time." Fate's face looked almost exactly the same.

"Is Arisa lifting the goalpost out of the ground?"

"I do believe she is."

"Do you think he needs help?"

"No, but we might want to call the nurse just in case."

* * *

"The course is set for one-hundred-twenty seconds, rank A difficulty." The voice came over the loudspeaker in matter of fact tone. "There are six targets. The AI isn't elaborate, but they can cause some serious damage if they hit you."

Genma grunted in reply as he stood in the center of the room. "Just get on with it." He was honestly impatient to finish up this last round of tests.

"Of course." The loudspeaker clicked off, and the barren room that Genma was in flared up with light.

Six indistinct figures appeared surrounding Genma, and three immediately dashed back and charged up beam attacks. One dashed forward wielding a beam of light as a sword, and the last two flanked the man.

The beams shot forward, even as the sword using construct approached from the front. Genma stepped forward, the beams missing by inches. Then in one smooth moment weaved around the sword attack, and casually reached back and drove a knife hand through the hastily erected barrier and through the back of the construct's neck. It wavered and dissipated.

The two flanking figures moved back, attempting binding spells while the ranged constructs continued to blast quickly. Tiny motes of light flew through the air and towards the man, who in response took off his gi top and twirled it quickly. Right before impact the gi went up into the air, and the shots homed in on the chi charged clothing, giving the man a brief opening.

The man suddenly moved, his form blurring and his fist striking the midsection of another construct. The impact struck the shield with terrific force, but the shield held. Then Genma's second attack hit the defense, and shattered it to pieces. The third strike, a twirling kick savagely ripped through it's shimmering form.

"Four left." Genma grunted, as the last constructs began to keep at range.

He didn't look it, but he was getting tired. Breaking a shield like that was hard and required concentration, and he was out of distraction tricks. In a different terrain he would have far less trouble, but this place was barren of tools, and he was out of tricks. Time to really push himself then.

Genma's form blurred as the beams began to lance at his former position, and then he leaped into the air gracefully. Twisting the man dodged the first few shots, and then a circular binding snapped into place with brutal finality. Half a dozen motes of light immediately lanced the man's form, exploding with terrific force.

The flashes of light obscured his form just enough to enact another technique, and the man landed on another construct with the force of a cannon ball. Three constructs left.

"Sixty seconds left."

Genma grunted as he twitched his singed muscles. That last attack had almost ended this exercise early. The last three were going to be the hardest. Time to see if his study of the magical system had paid off.

"Hiyaah!" A seal powered on under his feet, and the man's form dropped through the ground.

The remaining three constructs looked to their sides and behind them, neglecting the air, and losing another of their number to a totally silent aerial attack. The crucial second that it took the register the attack allowed Genma to nearly get within range of the fifth construct. A quick short range blast more flash than bang seemed to dissuade the approach, until Genma's bandana lanced through the construct's head like steel through paper.

The last construct backed as far away as possible, leaping to the air and charging a massive siege style attack. Genma grunted as he picked up his bandana, acting nonchalant as he watched the attack charge up and blast forward. It wasn't quite on par with Nanoha's blast, but it was enough that it would hurt seriously if it hit.

With a serious expression the man held out his hand, and an elaborately crafted seal appeared in front of him. The blast bent and disappeared. Too late the construct sensed the opened portal behind it, and its own blast rocked around its body. It dropped to the ground, damaged but not out. Genma's heel stomp half a second later ended the last construct's existence.

"Thirty seconds left."

Genma wiped the sweat off his body. "The boy's got some nice ideas with these chi techniques." He finally mumbled to himself. "A few more years and we might have a fully established school just for him."

* * *

The hospital was crisp, clean, and filled with the closest thing to cheer a place of healing could have. Christmas was rolling around after all, and while Japan didn't follow the religion as a whole, the holiday itself still had a fairly sizable following. The Wolkenritter were glad for the cheer, it kept their spirits up in the face of what was rapidly turning out to be something that could be refereed as the end game.

"How is she?" Signum requested softly from her place outside Hayate's door.

Shamal winced slightly as she looked at her pink haired commander. "Her body's paralysis is approaching her upper waist. She's trying to hide it, but she's having seizures. The doctors don't know how to treat it."

"And while we know the cause, there might not be enough time to get all the linker cores we need." Signum sighed and leaned against the wall with a tired expression. "She's trying so hard to hide it, but there isn't any hiding the pain she is in."

"We have maybe a week." The reply was said with a sense of finality. "No more than that."

"Let us comfort her today, and then tonight we will all go out in a last ditch effort." The statement was flat. Signum's order was clear in this case.

"Hayate's new friend is bringing her other friends." Shamal smiled. "At least we will have one last night of peace before the war begins again."

With that both knights visibly steeled themselves and entered the room to where Vita was kneeling at Hayate's bed. The tiny redhead was chatting happily with the bedridden girl. Despite this there was a sense of actors playing their parts in a play. The undercurrent of worry throbbed through the room. Shamal and Signum were almost absurdly grateful when the two other children showed up.

Alisa and Suzuka were bright rays of sunshine in an otherwise miserable day. They had no idea about Hayate's weakening condition, or the harsh decisions that the knights were often forced to make. Their only concern was the health of Hayate.

"Our other friends are going to be arriving soon." Suzuka chirped brightly as she set a basket of flowers on the stand next to Hayate's bed.

Alisa snorted in an unladylike manner. "And their little tag-along is going to be arriving with them."

"He's not that bad Alisa," Suzuka chided gently.

"He got me detention!" The retort was fast and furious. "I've never gotten detention in my life!"

"You did have half the class chase him around the volleyball field," Suzuka replied gently with a small smile.

Alisa blushed furiously as Vita chuckled slightly. "Sounds like this kid is a regular trouble maker."

"Exactly!" Alisa waved her arms in frustration. "The teachers make the sign of the devil when he's nearby anything sports related!"

"Why can I just picture Vita causing the same reaction." Hayate placed one finger on her lips in thought.

"Hey!" Vita grumbled, and squawked in outrage as the other two knights nodded in agreement. "I'm not nearly that bad!"

"Oh, that's probably them!" Suzuka perked up and ran to the door as a knock sounded through the room. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"We've been eager to meet this friend of yours." The voice that came from the entrance caused all three of the knights to tense.

"Hello Hayate." Nanoha walked into the room and smiled at the girl. "We have heard so much about you." To the girls credit she contained her flinch of recognition admiriably.

"Why does Ranma look so funny?" Suzuka's question cause everyone's eyes to snap to the small boy, who had a rather ridiculous look on his face.

"We gave him a rather sticky toffee." Fate's reply was soft and amused. "He's been unable to talk for the past ten minutes."

"Mumph!" Ranma gave the girl a thumbs up, his face contorting in a rather strange manner.

Hayate giggled. "Well, so far, he's not that different than Vita."

Vita gagged loudly. "I'm nothing like that-" The red head flinched as Hayate's hand grabbed her nose. "Ow ow, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

It was probably a good thing that Hayate was distracted by Vita, because Fate's reaction was not nearly as controlled as Nanoha's. The girl's eyes widened, and she quite nearly went for Bardiche. Only the presence of the other girls kept her from simply blasting the knights. Fortunately for all those involved Ranma was a bit too involved in his new treat to really notice the knights.

"Pleased to meet you Hayate, I am Nanoha, and this is Fate and Ranma." Nanoha bowed to the bedridden girl and set her own bundle of gifts next to the girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Fate searched in her outfit frantically as Nanoha continued to speak with Hayate, and finally found another taffy piece. When Ranma audibly gulped, she practically shoved the piece into his mouth, toppling the two children to the ground.

"MmMmph!" Ranma protested as the two became tangled up on the floor.

The knight's frosty silence cracked slightly as the two children got to their feet with obvious difficulty. Only when Fate got to her feet was the tense atmosphere resumed. While Hayate and the two girls giggled at Ranma, Vita's glare got hot enough to melt through the walls. This quite obviously made Fate and Nanoha very distracted.

"Nanoha, you seem distracted." Hayate frowned at the brown haired girl.

"Well I just realized that it's getting late, and there is something we have to do," the girl replied uneasily.

"Oh," Suzuka frowned at the clock. "You are right. See you tomorrow then Hayate."

_'I just realized that there is a barrier up.' _ Fate sent to Nanoha._ 'I can't get anything from outside.'_

"Rooftop." Signum murmured softly to Fate as the girls got ready to leave.

The blonde girl nodded.

It took until Ranma got out of the room and halfway up the stairs before he finally managed to work his way through the taffy in his mouth. It was at that point that he really registered why he was going up the stairs, the tension was almost unbearably thick at this point that he probably would have realized something was up anyway.

"Ya know, I don't think I would've placed the girl in the hospital as the master of the book." Ranma said thoughtfully as he walked.

"Don't you dare." Vita growled out furiously. "Don't you DARE speak of Hayate with anything less than respect."

"Aww, did I push a button?" Ranma mocked.

"Not here." Fate murmured quietly.

Ranma pouted as he hopped up to the top of the stairs and ahead of everyone else. "But it's so fun!" He was taken aback by the look that Signum shot him as she opened up the door to the roof.

"No more games little knight." She sounded almost sad as she walked out to the roof. "This is our last battle."

"Because we know who your master is now." Nanoha activated her barrier jacket and formed Raging Heart.

"We will give everything to be sure that she stays safe." Signum's weapon swept out into a ready state.

"Aww man, I get Blondie." Ranma frowned as his armor swept out over his body. "She's boring."

Shamal gulped slightly but steeled herself visibly. "I won't fail Hayate."

"That will not be necessary." A man floated down to the roof of the Hospital. "I will be your opponent." It was the masked man that had interfered in the last two fights had appeared. "You interfere in our plans."

"You!" Ranma growled and blurred from sight.

"Hmph." The man lifted up one arm and blocked the impact with a crackle of energy, his foot then lashed out and blew the boy across the rooftop. "Pathetic."

Signum and Vita took this time to charge Fate and Nanoha. "We will not fail!" Vita cried out as she swung her hammer.

"What are you doing here." Shamal asked the figure that had interfere. "Why are you helping us?"

"My reasons are my own." The man replied without emotion. "Keep the barrier maintained."

"Bastard!" Ranma swore as he appeared behind the man in a blur of movement magic.

"You take too long." Was the reply. "Your calculation was off as well." The man swerved around Ranma's attack, and almost casually dodged the two discusses whirling through the air. "Just stay down child."

The replying attacks were brutal and efficient, knocking Ranma off his feet with a blindingly fast kick and then bouncing him off the ground with a savage downward kick. The ground cracked from the impact, and the boy gagged as he felt a rib crack despite the barrier the jacket had.

To the side, Vita and Nanoha swept past each other, playing a deadly game of keep away. They were unfortunately very familiar with each others styles by now, so it was more a game of cat and mouse than a slugging match. If Nanoha could just get a bit of range Vita would lose, but the red haired girl knew all about Nanoha's superiority, and was keeping the girl as close as possible.

Fate's match was different, but no less deadly. Signum was stronger, more durable, and more skilled than Fate. The only thing that Fate had was a decided edge in speed and range. Their match was more a small dog harrying a bear than anything else. Fate darted in and out, trying to get a decisive blow while Signum simply bulled through what she could in an attempt to close the gap between the two.

At the rooftop Ranma swirled his cape around himself, obscuring his blindingly fast strikes. Despite himself the man found his steps faltering. The boy's skill was impressive. Unfortunately for Ranma, it wasn't enough. The man had the edge in skill, and he proved it decisively as his next kick sent Ranma skidding across the rooftop once more.

The boy staggered to his feet and gasped from the pain. Despite this he smirked at the man. "You fight like a woman."

"Hmph." The man blurred forward and appeared in front of Ranma with his leg raised. "You are at your limit child."

Ranma swept to the side and whipped his cape across the man's face. "What limit?"

"This one." The man's figured blurred causing Ranma to lose track of his attack for the briefest instant. A fatal instant in which the boy was sent off the roof from the titanically powerful kick.

The boy drifted through the air with an incredulous expression on his face. His rib had pierced his lung, and a trickle of bloody froth dripped down his mouth as he fell.

The mysterious man just stood in his position for a moment, evaluating the boy's position before moving to where Shamal was. "Have the knights move here."

Shamal gulped as she sent the instruction. "Did you have to do that?"

"He was tenacious enough that nothing less would have stopped him." Was the emotionless reply. "But that didn't kill him based on what his barrier is capable of."

Fate and Nanoha swept in, herded skillfully by the knights. Despite themselves the two girls paused a moment when they spotted something. Right when they were almost directly above the roof, they both found themselves caged in an elaborate binding spell.

"That was not how I wished the battle to go." Signum spoke as she touched down next to the man.

"I could care less what an artificial creation like you would 'think.'" The man disappeared from view and reappeared above the roof, seemingly holding the binding on the girls. "This is just what we need to begin the next portion of the plan."

"Plan?" Vita growled out as she looked at the man in the air.

"Yes." The voice made4 the red-head whirl.

There were two identical men, one holding Fate and Nanoha captive, and the other one holding an unconscious Hayate and the Book of Darkness.

"Hayate!" The cry came from all three of the knights.

"And now it's time to end this farce." The man holding the book spoke.

The book glowed with an unearthly light, and the knights began to scream in pain. "Your power shall now return to the book."

The men's form wavered and shifted, turning to identical copies of Fate and Nanoha. The book glowed brighter, and the knights screamed out in agony, awakening Hayate from her en-scrolled stupor. The sickly girl looked wide eyed at the beginnings of a waking nightmare.

"No!" She cried out even as the knight's forms began to fade. "NO!" It was a wail of pure despair.

"They are just constructs." The fake Fate spoke, holding up the book higher. "They are built to serve the book in all ways. You should understand that 'master'."

"No! Never them! STOP IT!" Hayate cried out in pure agony as her knight's disappeared from sight, their homemade clothing falling to the ground in pitiable piles.

"That's three." The fake Nanoha spoke. "One more."

"Ah there." Zafira's strike came out of nowhere, but did nothing, his fist impacting uselessly into the shield the false Nanoha. "That's four, and just enough to fill the pages too." The familiar dissolved into air far faster than the other knights.

"You should be glad," The fake Fate spoke. "Besides they were just constructs."

Hayate seemed to have retreated from the world, her eyes were gazing at nothing. The tears dripped down her face, but there was nothing behind the eyes, so the two fakes were surprised to hear someone respond. "Liar."

Both false copies looked surprised at the response. There on the rooftop was a bloody Ranma. "I HAVE NO LIMITS!" He screamed out as his from lit up with his magical power.

Despite themselves both copies found themselves surprised as half a dozen large vehicles quite literally flew out from the movement portal behind the boy. The king of the lot was a large bus which Ranma rode like a giant surfboard right at the figure in the air. It struck the shield with shattering force, and quite literally came apart at the seams. On the roof of the bus, his cape flaring wildly, Ranma placed both his hands on the shattered roof top and channeled the rest of his chi into his last spell.

The world around the airborne man shimmered with movement, and each and every piece of the shattered projectiles began to whirl around, falling and reappearing around the false Nanoha. The copy was forced to drop everything and disappear from sight. Ranma dropped like a rock from exhaustion, just barely getting caught by Fate.

"Hehe." Ranma coughed blood as Fate floated in the air, Nanoha right beside her. "Sorry I couldn't keep up."

Fate and Nanoha said nothing as the looked from their battered friend to the place where the remnants of the knight's clothing drifted in the wind. Hayate had begun to scream, and the copies were nowhere to be seen. Magic however was starting to build impossibly high.

"That boy was near impossible to drop without killing him," The false Nanoha spoke with obvious discomfort. "That last move had the potential to actually break my first barrier."

"We accomplished our mission at least." The false Fate dropped the transformation and switched to the male form that he had worn previously. "The book is active."

Any further discussion was cut off as two rows of rings snapped closed around both men, crackling with magical energy and hissing loudly. Both men screamed out as, and their forms wavered as they shifted into their true forms, that of a pair of cat-girls. The familiars of Gil Grahm.

"And here we have the true culprits of the entire incident." Chrono stated with finality. "Your master has much to answer for."

"GAAH!" One of the girls growled out as the spell continued to crackle with energy. "We never taught you anything like this."

"But you did teach me to learn on my own." The boy replied. "This binding is specifically designed to strip disguises and transformations. You are both under arrest." He looked to the distance as the world's color began to bleed away from the massive barrier being setup. "Hopefully we can undo the damage that you have done."

"How's Ranma?" Nanoha asked as she floated up to see where Hayate had been.

"He's stable, but I don't think he's going to be able to fight." Fate looked up from where she was tending to Ranma. "Whatever happens it's up to us."

The boy in question coughed wetly and opened his eyes. "Set me down. I'll get out of the way." It pained him more to admit that he couldn't help, but he knew when to run.

"Stay safe Ranma." Nanoha floated next to him and kissed his forehead. "We will be fine."

As Fate dropped Ranma onto the ground Hayate's form was beginning to shift and change. From the sickly brown haired girl to something different. A black barrier jacket flowed across her body, and her hair bleached silver. Her eyes flicked and changed, and then wings sprouted from her back. Fully transformed she was unrecognizable as the sickly girl she once was.

As Nanoha floated into the air the formerly comatose girl's eyes snapped to her, and her arm raised into the air. "Diabolic Emission." She intoned with little emotion.

A small black sphere appeared above her head and began to rapidly expand. Nanoha's eyes widened and she turned and began to fly out at top speed, broadcasting a warning.

On the ground Ranma and Fate looked to the sky to see the sphere rapidly begin to dominate the sky. With little regard to how she was doing it Fate scooped up the boy and flew as fast as possible. The boy in her arms winced, but offered little complaint.

_'This is not good.'_ Fate sent as she looked at the rapidly increasing mass of darkness.

_'It's worse, we have people in the barrier.'_ Nanoha sent back as she spotted a pair of figures from her vantage higher in the sky.

Both girls barely had to speak to plan what was needed next. They sped to where the civilians were. That they were Suzuka and Alisa was irrelevant. Ranma dropped down in front of the two with Fate next and then Nanoha slamming up a round barrier just in time. Both girls layered their defenses to prevent the blast from reaching the far more vulnerable people in the center.

"What's going on?" Alisa gasped out as she watched the world around them begin to dissolve in black light.

Nanoha's barrier began to crack from the onslaught, but fortunately held through the blast. In the center Ranma coughed as Alisa and Suzuka looked at the boy and their surroundings with horror as the world around the two seemed to dissolve.

"Doesn't matter right now." Ranma grit out and grabbed both civilians. "We have to get you out of here now."

"Right!" Nanoha smiled briefly at her friends. "I can tell you about this later ok? Stay safe."

Ranma began to limp off, pulling along both of Nanoha's friends behind him with no regard to their protests. Both of the magical girls took the time to float up into the air to face where they knew Hayate was.

The girl loomed over them despite her height, the wings in her back fluttered ominously as she focused an impassive stare on the two girls. She ignored the rapidly retreating people, her only focus was Nanoha and Fate. Raising a hand in an almost gentle fashion she pointed, and motes of light formed around her index finger.

"Hayate!" Nanoha called out as she flew to the side. "Are you in there? Please, speak to us!"

"Starlight Breaker." The intonation was toneless, but the spell wasn't as it lanced across the concrete streets and buildings with terrific force, carving a deep trench of damage across the landscape.

Both girls were able to dodge the blast, but their return fire simply bounced off the shields that flickered into sight and flickered out just as quickly. If anything it served to make the girl even more determined to destroy the two. Pillars of fire erupted from the ground and the transformed Hayate raised her book up high.

It opened and began to shine brightly, the pages flipping rapidly before stopping suddenly. The world began to warp.

"What the?" Nanoha dodged to the side as she watched the air shimmer to her side.

"The world is nothing but numbers," Hayate intoned. "Lines on a sheet of paper blended into impossible things. All thrown together and then taken apart. Kaleidoscope."

"Nanoha!" Fate called out as she blurred to her friend's side, only to find her world suddenly turned upside-down.

Nanoha blinked as she watched Fate come into one portal and come out turned around beside her. "This is Ranma's skill?"

The world began to warp and shimmer even more, and what seemed like a thousand small motes of light began to circle around Nanoha and Fate. Unable to dodge due to the way the portals were setup the girls were forced to setup the strongest barriers they could. It was like fireworks.

Nanoha coughed out as she lowered her arms. "Fate, are you ok?"

"Yes." Fate glanced at Nanoha with worry. "We can't keep doing this."

"I know." Was the reply. "We're just defending."

"Watch it!" Fate's warning came too late as hate's glowing black fist impacted a still winded Nanoha, sending the girl into a ruined building. Fate just barely was able to dodge a knife hand that literally glowed with power. Even with the near miss her uniform developed a small gash.

"Offensive, offensive." Nanoha muttered to herself as she pulled herself from the building to see another bright blast just barely miss Fate. "Fine then." She braced Raging Heart against building and the device clanked loudly as it ejected a cartridge. "Starlight Breaker!"

The transformed Hayate simply turned and threw up a round shimmering shield which almost casually deflected the massive pink blast. Fate however wasn't one to let her friends do all the work, and sent off a few small shots of her own.

"Bind!" Nanoha called out as she appeared next to her opponent. The spell lasted but a second to restrain Hayate, but it was enough for Fate to shift styles.

The blond haired girl's weapon clanked and hissed as the girl shifted into a faster mode, and she blurred forward with Bardiche in scythe mode. Hayate tilted her body oddly reminiscent of Ranma, but was caught off guard as Nanoha uncharacteristically slammed her staff into her opponent's back.

Both the tiny girl's weapons hissed and clanked loudly and twin blasts of energy blasted right into the staggered Hayate.

"Hayate, if you won't listen, I will just have to beat you until you do." Nanoha's device clanked three times and blasted again with twice the power as the previous shot.

Hayate's form was covered in smoke from the blast, but the sheer breadth of the attack made it obvious that it hit. The girl's form looked singed as she became visible, but she still looked very ready to fight. Fate's follow up attack attempted to change this, as the scythe arced from behind.

Hayate, finally moved with something less than serenity turned quickly and thrusther book out in a parry. The world flashed and between one blink and the next Fate was gone.

* * *

"Ranma?" Alisa looked at the bloody boy. "Are you all right?"

The boy didn't look all right, everything about him looked like he was on his last legs. From the battered clothing to the froth of blood trickling from his mouth, there wasn't an inch of the boy that didn't look like it was in pain.

"Ehm, I'll be fine." Ranma waved off the girl. "I pushed myself, but I didn't do anything really damaging. The worst thing is that my rib's poking my lung."

"That's terrifying." Alisa responded. "Especially that you know what that feel's like."

"More that I know what can happen, and with the symptoms are." The boy responded and sat down next to a derelict building. "I probably should stop moving though, now that we are out of the way."

"What was going on back there?" Suzuka asked timidly.

Ranma grunted and closed his eyes. "Nanoha should probably tell you. Me and words don't get along too well."

"Oh come on!" Alisa placed her hands on her hips. "You could at least tell us something."

"Nanoha's a magical girl?" Ranma responded cautiously, opening one eye warily.

"I could see that!" The blond haired girl waved her arms. "What was with the explosion, the reason that Nanoha can do those things, and that bondage getup that Fate's in?!"

Ranma's eyes widened and he coughed and chuckled at the same time. "Bondage getup?!"

Suzuka looked afraid to ask. "Umm, what's a bondage getup?"

Ranma continued to laugh and cough at the same time. "Owww, my ribs!"

Alisa looked beet red, but still furious. "Info, NOW!"

"All right, all right." Ranma took a deep breath and looked like he was going to explain something, but suddenly his entire form went still.

"Ranma?" Both girls looked at the suddenly dead serious boy.

"Fate?" Ranma twitched and stood. "FATE!?"

"What's happening?"

Ranma ignored both girls, slamming his fist into the nearby building instead. A closer look at the boy showed that a few tears were trickling down his face. With sudden jerky movements he ripped off the armor he was wearing, stripping down to just his pants. A series of runes lit up on his skin, and the boy ripped out a piece of stone from the wall.

"Get away, both of you." The boy grit out as he grabbed with looked like two shotgun shells from the tattered remains of his armor. "I'm going to do something stupid."

"What?" Alisa blinked as Suzuka grabbed her and began to pull the girl away.

Ranma slammed the stone shard into his side, dragging it through a lit up rune in a shower of blood. Then, the hand that held the shotgun shells appeared to light up then explode into smoke as the magical energy in the cartridges was forcibly released.

"GAHH!" Ranma screamed out. "Stop her, STOP HER!" The scream was half damned and half rage.

Both Alisa and Suzuka didn't stay around for what happened next.

"Bring her back!" Nanoha yelled out as she aimed Raging Heart at the floating figure in front of her. "Bring back Fate!"

The transformed Hayate said nothing, merely gestured and invoked another spell. The ground underneath Nanoha began to rumble with power, but the girl simply braced herself and ignored the massive pillar of fire erupting all around her. Her form glared with magical energy and the pillar of fire swirled around her.

Raging Heart hissed and snapped as it ejected cartridges, and the pillar of fire seemed to engulf the girl. Then a massive pink light flared out from the hidden girl. The pillar wavered and actually traveled around the beam, twisting and turning. The already devastating beam flared and trailed fire and power through the sky.

Left behind was a heavily breathing Nanoha, looking very singed but unharmed. The girl didn't rest on her laurels, turning around to block Hayate's fist, glowing darkly. The girl's wings were singed, and her uniform torn, but the strike still sent Nanoha back through the air. The brown haired girl let the momentum carry her and held out her hand, gathering power in it for a quick shot.

Suddenly Hayate's body arched in pain, a spray of blood erupting from a wing as it was torn off her back along with a good deal of skin. Behind her flew past Ranma, both hand and eyes glittering red. Runes glittered weakly across naked skin, his hair was wild, and his eyes were red. Dressed only in his pants the boy landed on a nearby rooftop and flicked his hand free of blood before leaping into the air again.

Showing the first real emotion of the day Hayate's eyes widened, and the girl swerved her body to avoid the lunging jump. Impossibly the boy managed to snag a leg, and grabbed ahold. Shadows crept up the girl's body and the boy pulled himself so that he was level with his opponent's throat. Teeth lunged for the vulnerable spot, and Hayate screamed.

A massive blast of light illuminated the area, knocking Nanoha back and leveling nearly every building under the two. When the light faded, Hayate was on the ground panting from exertion. The girl's breath began to shake and she dropped to her knees, tears dripping from her face.

"Please, I can't control it." Hayate spoke the first real words in the encounter. "It's going to start again, and I can't stop it like this."

Nanoha pried herself from the rubble and spoke, "Hayate?"

"Nanoha." Hayate smiled slightly. "Sorry about the trouble. If you can, do you think you could break her power a bit more?" The girl gasped and stood as something seemed to wash over her expression. "I can fight it inside." Hayate's expression smoothed out and it was like someone else was behind her eyes.

Ranma didn't care. His form slunk out from the shadows and his eyes gleamed red as an unnatural terror washed over both combatants. Nanoha just swallowed and ignored it, clutching Raging Heart and lifting off into the air.

The white haired girl's form blurred into the air and over the nearby water, Nanoha's form blurring after her. Ranma didn't fly but instead danced over the waves, bouncing off the water and air like it was solid ground, shadows coalescing around his from as he yowled with half rage and half something darker.

The two mages impacted in midair, causing a shock-wave of power echo through the air. Hayate and Nanoha were knocked back from the impact, and Ranma took the opportunity to get at Hayate. The attack was more like a whirlwind of shadow than any real physical attack, but it slid through Hayate's shields like they were paper, ripping her uniform into shreds.

Any fear the magical girl might have had was long since suppressed, and she responded with a vicious attack. It was like trying to hit a ghost. The possessed boy weaved around the attack like air and seemed to hang upside-down for a moment, baring his teeth in a parody of a smile as he dropped down.

Too late Hayate realized that Nanoha hadn't sent a reply attack and turned to see the girl's device glimmering with gathered power, pink wings sweeping back and illuminating half the night sky. This attack put everything she had done before to shame. It was enough to been seen from orbit, a titanic wave of power.

Hayate's book burned with exertion as she blocked. The book flared with light and lightning, and a massive yellow sword shot out of the center of it. With a crackle of lightning Fate ripped apart the book from the inside. The pages fluttered to the ground, and Hayate's form dropped, only to be caught by the recently manifested girl.

Fate smiled at the girl. Then with a smooth motion struck out the still attacking Ranma, slamming the flat of her blade into him, and then sending a massive lighting shock into his body. The boy's form went limp, and he fell into Nanoha's arms.

"Good catch." Fate commented softly as she looked at Nanoha with a warm smile.

"Welcome back Fate." The girl replied. "I'm glad you are all right."

"Hayate got me loose." The blonde haired mage replied as she shifted the girl in her arms. "With your attack from the outside and mine from the inside we managed to break apart the book's hold."

Nanoha nodded and turned her attention to Ranma with a wince. Most of his wounds seemed to have healed, but he really didn't feel good. "We have to get them both to the hospital."

"That might have to wait." The girl in Fate's arms grunted out as she pulled herself up using Fate's shoulder. "We broke the book into pieces but we didn't actually destroy it." She held up a hand and light coalesced into a book.

"What do you mean?" Nanoha looked up from her friend.

"Look." Fate pointed down to where the sea had started to bubble.

"The corrupted portion of the book." Hayate explained as her clothing shifted and the girl began to float in the air on her own power. "If we don't stop it, it start it's last spell. The effect of that one is enough to cause the extinction of all life on the planet."

"One thing after another." Nanoha sighed and hugged Ranma to her. "Well, let's do this!"

_'Reinforcements are nearly there, and we have related the situation to them.' _The transmission from the battleship caused all three girls to smile.

Down in the sea a massive creature emerged from the waves. A hideous creation that looked like a nightmarish octopus, it's skyscraper sized tentacles waved in the air menacingly. In the very center of this creation was a simulacrum of humanity, a woman seeming to pray. Between her hands magical lightning coursed.

Above the creature floated all the people the TSAB could call. Chrono looked serious as always, Yuno looked over Ranma with a concerned expression, and Arf floated by her master. Hayate was the first to really do anything.

A sigil appeared under her form, four pointed. On each of the points was a circle. "Let's make this right. Let's make everything better." Hayate spoke and concentrated. "I'm calling you my knights, can you hear me? Return to me."

A clank and hiss sounded off, and each of the knights appeared from a corner. Pristine and whole. From stalwart Signum to gentle Shamal, all four of the Wolkenritter were back and ready to fight once again.

"It will keep regenerating unless we manage to destroy it completely." Hayate spoke.

"So we destroy it with all we have." Nanoha replied with a serious look, pointing her weapon at the beast in the ocean.

"Eliminate the shields on it and we can use movement magic to elevate it to where the ship is in orbit." Chrono made his device appear as he spoke. "They are in proper position, and their main weapon should be adequate for this."

"Sorry you can't see this Ranma." Nanoha gave the boy to Shamal. "Make sure he's all right."

"I will." The blond haired woman nodded.

"I'd be disappointed if we could not fight once more." Signum took her position.

"I am positive that he feels the same way." Fate began to invoke her magic, pointing Bardiche. "We will make sure that everything goes right so you can."

"He's an ass, but I don't want him dead." Vita pulled out several small spheres. "Let's end this."

"Right." Nanoha aimed Raging Heart. "STARLIGHT BREAKER!"

* * *

"It never ends does it?" Hayate looked out from the port on the spaceship.

"What doesn't end?" Fate asked softly.

"The stars, the world, maybe life?" Hayate giggled softly from her wheelchair. "I don't know, but I do know that I'm glad to be alive."

"And that everything turned out all right." Fate replied softly.

Hayate turned her wheelchair around and smiled. "It will be, you heard Shamal, Ranma should be fine."

"If he didn't know that damned healing technique he wouldn't be." Genma growled from behind the girl, startling her. "I get back and find my son in critical condition, and four new girls swarming him. I swear the boy is too young to have girl troubles."

Fate giggled up at the man. "Welcome back Genma. Sorry that you have such a bad welcome."

"Ehm, I understand girl." Genma patted the girl on the head affectionately. "You and Nanoha might wanna steer clear from the boy for the next few days though."

Fate tilted her head. "Why?"

"The boy is grounded until he turns fifteen." Genma growled out. "I had the doctor seal almost all his chi, and place no less than three reinforced psychological seals on the boy. He's going to be retrained from the ground up to be certain that he never does anything so colossally stupid again."

Hayate looked non-pulsed. "Isn't that a little harsh?"

"It's good training!" Genma stated authoritatively. "Besides, the boy nearly killed himself with that stunt, and his rib needed to be reset due to it healing too fast and incorrectly."

"But he did it to keep everyone safe." Hayate pointed out.

"That's why he's only grounded until he's fifteen instead of until he is twenty." The man replied as he adjusted his glasses. "Anyway, I just came by to let you know about Ranma's punishment. You can visit him as much as you want, but make sure that he doesn't try something that boneheaded again."

"All right." Fate nodded reluctantly.

"I'm gonna kill the old man." Ranma growled out from his place on the bed. "I'm going to murder him in his sleep. I'm going to poison his food, and then hang him."

"Really squirt," Vita snickered out from where she was sitting next to the boy. "How are you gonna do that with more than half your magic sealed away."

Ranma's eyebrow twitched. "Oh that does it." The boy leaped out from his bed and aimed a kick at the knight.

"Graf Eisen!" Vita just barely got her hammer out and up in time. "How the hell are you moving that fast with your magic sealed?!"

"Who said I was using magic?" Ranma smirked out as crouched on the floor, ignoring how his hospital gown fluttered.

"Fine, I've been itching for a rematch!" Vita got her hammer into a ready position.

"Kyaa!" Ranma roared forward, and there were quite a few crashes.

The door opened moments later, Nanoha's voice coming out from the room. "So Ranma's going to be sealed until he's fifteen?"

"I believe that is sufficient punishment." Genma rumbled out as she stepped into the room, and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Please tell me I don't have to pay for this."

"Bastard! Let me go!" Vita yelled out from her headlock. The room was ruined and several very expensive looking computers were sparking ominously. Several had very conspicuous body prints and hammer marks.

"Say uncle!" Ranma replied and rubbed his knuckles into Vita's head in a noogie.

"No chance!" Vita reached behind her and gripped and attempted a throw. Instead there was a very loud rip.

"KYAAAAAAA!" Nanoha screeched as Ranma's hospital gown ripped completely off, and everyone was able to see that yes they did remove all the clothing from their patients.

* * *

"I think I will be seeing Ranma doing that in my nightmares." Alisa shuddered from her spot on the couch, Suzuka nodding emphatically in agreement.

"Stupid boy." Genma cuffed the boy on the back of his head. "Really, it's bad enough that you are going to do it, but doing in front of poor impressionable girls as well."

"Aren't I being punished enough?" Ranma grumbled from his place at Genma's side. "You don't have to hit me too."

"Trust me boy," Genma growled out in reply. "If I were a lesser man I would have grounded you until you were twenty."

Both of Nanoha's parents nodded in agreement, with her mother chiming in. "As is, Nanoha is grounded for the next six months for not telling us sooner."

"Ehhh!?" Nanoha's eyes grew wide.

This was an informal gathering of friends and family. Fate and Lindy were attending, as were Ranma and his father. Off to the side were Alisa and Suzuka, added to the gathering by virtue of the events they had witnessed. Nanoha's living room was just spacious enough to seat all of them, though Genma and Ranma had to sit on the couch.

"That should hopefully be the last of any significant threats." Lindy finally said once her chuckles had died down. "We will check up periodically on Nanoha officially to be sure that her abilities are progressing and not being abused, but she should be able to be as normal as anyone else."

"But you still are claiming jurisdiction." Nanoha's father pointed out calmly.

Lindy nodded in reply. "We have several discrete deals with various governments on this world. Mostly offering our expertise on high magic areas. In exchange for this mostly free service we have full leeway to keep things contained, so long as we keep it quiet and out of the way." The woman shrugged. "They have an official announcement of the TSAB's existence scheduled for something like next century."

"Ahh yes, bureaucracy." Genma chuckled. "Why do today what you can do tomorrow?"

"Something like that." Lindy smiled fleetingly. "That offer is still open to you and your son by the way. Your magical power is not officially high enough to force us to monitor you, but unofficially your capabilities are giving the higher-ups a lot of ideas"

The man snorted in reply. "I got paid, I have little tolerance for any more interaction. Besides, my highest priority is still Ranma."

"Well, I suppose that is a worthy goal. Will you allow Ranma to at least consider our offer?" The blue haired woman smiled brightly at that. "It would be nice to have a partner for Fate."

Genma shook his head even as he knuckled down on his son's head to keep him quiet. "Not right now. When he can be considered a master he can do what he will However, he can't be considered a grandmaster until he is married." The man grimaced at the next particular part. "Or has a child."

"Huh?" Both Nanoha's parents blinked at that.

"That's a strange requirement to attain a mastery." Nanoha's father spoke finally.

"WHAAA!?" Ranma fell over as he finally processed what his father was saying.

Genma grimaced heavily. "It's a requirement in our school set our departed master." Genma grumbled something derogatory about the man. He was actually leaving out that the master had also drunkenly stated that he wanted them to be 'gifted.' "Sadly it actually makes sense in a way, so the current master of Anything Goes have kept it."

"Well, that shouldn't be that big a deal." Lindy shrugged in reply. "We have plenty of girls who would already want to marry the boy when he grows up."

"Eh!?!?!" Every one of the children exclaimed at that.

All the adults snickered at that. Talk devolved into small talk and small demonstrations of lower order magic and the like. All too soon though, the night began to fall and people got up to leave.

"Oh," Lindy paused at the door. "The things you ordered." She held out a small pack.

"Thank you for your kindness." Genma bowed to the woman.

"What are those?" Nanoha looked at the package.

"A long range communicator and a map of various transport points, as well as the spell that allows transport." Lindy replied. "I assume you are going traveling."

"Only a fool ignores new horizons." Genma chuckled. "There are thousands of worlds to go off to, and train in."

"You are leaving?!" Nanoha grew teary eyed. "Without saying goodbye?"

"We can have a big farewell tomorrow." Genma grumbled out. "Besides, the boy is probably going to monopolize the communicator."

"Probably!" Ranma chirped, and hugged both Fate and Nanoha. "You're my best friends, I won't let a little thing like another world separate us."

"Tomorrow then."

"Yeah, tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: Insert Time skip here. Thank you for the reviews by the way, I'm an author of few words, but rest assured that I like feedback just as much as anyone else. I just don't like cluttering my story with well, non story material. Reloaded to fix some errors.


	9. Chapter 9

"Looks like it's going to rain." Ranma looked up at the cloudy sky with disinterest. "Not that I mind really."

The boy had grown up. Ranma as a teenager hadn't changed much. He still had a lithe build, his black hair was swept back into a pigtail. There were two main changes. The device formerly known as Trombe had changed somehow. It was now a bright glittering green gem surrounded by a steel frame. It was now known as Nayru, and there was a decidedly different air about it. It swung from a steel chain around his neck, proudly displayed against the red Chinese silks that the teenager had started to favor.

"Boy, I know you feel bad about what happened, but really, get over yourself," Genma growled out. "I must be cursed, cursed I tell you! My son has contracted the deadly disease of teenage angst!"

While Ranma had grown up, Genma still looked the same. He was still a massive man, sill clad in the gi, and still had his glasses and bandanna. It was like time had swept by and not touched him.

"Still dunno why we gotta settle down so far away from where Nanoha and Fate are staying." Ranma commented sullenly, crossing his arms across his chest as he walked along the city street.

"Free lodgings are nothing to scoff at..." Genma sighed and shook his head. "I was going to tell you later, but I suppose now is a good time. Your fiancee is there."

"Ah.." Ranma nodded, and then twitched. "Fiancee?"

"Yes, the Tendo and I had a long standing agreement that you and his daughter would wed when you came of age." Genma nodded in acknowledgment.

"And it never occurred to you to tell me?!" Ranma growled out, showing the first emotion of the day.

"Why would I?" The man scratched his bandanna clad head. "It's a matter of honor, I trust you to treat it with the respect it deserves."

Ranma's eyebrow twitched dangerously and a few sparks shot out of his clenched fist. People seeing the confrontation began to back away from the boy. "I suppose my opinion of the matter doesn't mean anything?"

"Let me think.." Genma adopted an exaggerated thinking pose. "Nope."

"DIE!" Ranma lunged forward and attacked his father.

The man blocked the strike adroitly, and people would later swear they heard a sound like a wrecking ball hitting a wall. Not deterred in the least Ranma kicked out and used the resulting block to kick off into the air.

Glaring up at his son Genma's form blurred from sight and the two began to clash mightily in the air before Genma slammed back down to the ground with an earth shattering thud. He rolled to avoid Ranma's follow up strike, and then struck out on his own. The first few strikes were blocked, but they were only the setup for the massive slam right into Ranma's midsection.

The teenager flew through the air and into a nearby wall, cracking the side of it. Winded but far from out the boy got to his feet with a glare.

Genma just adjusted his glasses. "You might want to keep the property damage to our host's home to a minimum."

"What?" Ranma blinked and looked behind himself to see a large sign.

_'Tendo Dojo, to challenge the owner in savage combat please use the rear door.'_

The pigtailed teen gave a full body twitch as he heard a female voice comment sarcastically. "Oh sure daddy, he's a perfectly normal boy."

"Nabiki!" Another voice gasped out. "That's rude."

"Doesn't mean it isn't true." The first voice, Nabiki commented.

"Now, now." Another voice gently chided. "Let's get them in before they get all wet."

As if on cue the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. Ranma just glared at the place where his father had been. The sneak had already gotten inside, and was probably totally dry.

"My daughter's names are Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi. Pick one and she will be your fiancee." Mr. Tendo already scored low on Ranma's scale of people he liked because he was pushing the ridiculous notion. That he was doing it so crudely made the teenager want to crack the man's head against a wall.

Kasumi looked more matron than teenager, brown hair done up in a feminine ponytail and dressed in a dress and apron. Ranma half expected her to be a housewife for some rich slob instead of a girl who should be out in the world. Really not his type, if Ranma even had one.

Nabiki looked interesting, if only because she was dressed up, but he could already see the predatory gleam in her eyes. That and her sarcastic comment at the beginning had really made the teen think that she was better ignored than dealt with. Attractive enough at least, the pageboy cut fit her face.

Akane at least looked like she could be someone Ranma would relate to. Fair amount of skill, half serious about the art judging by the way she was dressed in the gi still, and actually concerned about being polite. The long hair really didn't seem to suit her though.

Ranma smacked his head a few times as he realized he was half considering this farce, and that he was actually evaluating how the girls were dressed. Clearly he had spent too long with girls most of his life if he was so fascinated by clothing choices.

"Oh he want's Akane."

"What?!"

Ranma twitched, and now he was having his choice made for him.

"What makes you think I want to marry him?!!" Akane screeched out. "I don't even know the boy!"

"We know you hate boys, but someone has to do it," Nabiki commented seriously. "Besides, he's a martial artist just like you."

"Pops." Ranma glared at his suddenly smirking father. "Don't you dare."

"Then it's settled!" Genma exclaimed. "Let's start the celebration!"

"Quite right Saotome! The schools will finally be joined!" Mr Tendo held a tea cup in the air in celebration.

"I don't want to marry some strange boy that I just met!" Akane yelled at her father.

"This is no picnic for me either." Ranma growled out as he glared at his father as well.

"See how well they agree already?" Genma chuckled out, and then moved out of the way as Ranma's fist swung through his previous position.

The teen audibly growled and the gem swinging from his neck crackled ominously. Genma was the only one that really noticed the change and frowned at his son. With a sigh he dropped his guard and snagged his son by the collar.

"This can be finalized later Tendo, my son needs his rest." The man rumbled out.

"Hey!" Ranma attempted to twist out of the hold, but Genma held firm.

"Of course my friends, I need to speak with my daughters anyway." Mr Tendo nodded in agreement.

"The guest room is upstairs!" Kasumi chirped from her seated spot at the table.

"Come on boy."

Ranma grunted as the hold was released, and shook himself out as he followed his father. "So what's the big deal pops? This is a stupid idea."

"It might be." Genma shrugged. "I think you two would get along very well though."

"Like oil and water." Ranma grunted out a reply as he opened the door to the guest room and sat down on the floor.

"Perhaps." The burly martial artist sighed as he settled down inside the room. "Keep in mind that if you want to attain mastery you have to get married."

"Stupid rule." Ranma grunted out. "Don't care about mastery anyway. I'm probably going to go work with Fate."

"Perhaps." Genma adjusted his glasses. "I don't deny that would be a decent move for you, but could you really handle taking orders from people?"

"I dunno?" The teenager scratched his head in consternation. "Can't be worse than dealing with your crazy schemes."

"Ha!' Genma laughed sharply. "You would be surprised."

"Got a better idea?" Ranma glared out at his father. "I really don't want to be tied down to a dojo, even one as nice as this could be."

"Oh how little you think of your father." The man pulled out a futuristic looking notepad. "Read this."

Taking the device Ranma blinked a few times, and pressed a few buttons. "Pops, are you serious?"

"Exclusive schools are all well and good if you want to have the mysticism surrounding it," Genma chuckled in remembrance. "But no matter how good they are, they aren't succeeding. Sooner or later they will die out, either from stagnation or from simple attrition. That job is a chance to create a legacy."

"Yeah, I don't see how me getting a mastery will help with this though." The teen flipped the device back to his father.

"I have a bit left to teach." Genma shrugged. "However, what I have left is sealed, and I will not teach it to a student. A fellow master however.."

"What makes it worth it?" Ranma narrowed his eyes at his father in suspicion.

"It's something that might give us a legacy that could last beyond death." Genma smiled secretly at his son. "Maybe my brilliant son could actually mold it into a legacy worthy of our name."

"So I get married, I get a mastery, and you teach me this?" The teen snorted at the thought. "Doesn't seem worth it."

"Get married before you turn twenty and I will even through in the basic outline of what I have planned for this." The bandanna clad man waved around the pad. "You were taught too young to remember quite a few of the things you would need."

"I just have to get married right?" Ranma looked at the device with a mix of desire and dread. "Doesn't matter who to?"

"Correct." Genma put away the pad. "I think it's a good deal."

Ranma grimaced and nodded. "All right. Deal."

"Heh, not many people get a deal to create an entire training program from scratch with unlimited funding." Genma chuckled out.

* * *

The explosion was obnoxiously loud and sudden. One moment the entire Tendo compound was going through it's sleepy wake routine, and then the entire house was shaking and Genma was blown through the guest room window and across the back yard. In the guest room stood a obviously half awake Ranma snarling at something that only he could see. The teen gave a full body twitch and only then seemed to realize what he had done.

"Awww, damn." Ranma muttered as he looked at the wrecked wall.

Genma coughed as he pulled himself out from a crater in the distance. "Overreact much?!" He called out.

"Sorry pops, I'm still twitch from the China trip!" Ranma called out with a frown.

The adult just shook his head as he trotted to where the hole was in the house. "I'll take care of the damage. Just get ready for school." He sighed as he looked at the debris from Ranma's reaction.

"School?" Ranma blinked down at Genma. "Again? How the heck did you manage to get me enrolled?!"

The man coughed again as he replied. "I've had this particular place planned for awhile, there is a nearby high school that is very lenient towards martial artist families."

"Really?' The boy asked with a raised eyebrow. "This should be interesting."

"It's probably not going to be as interesting as that one school we saw." Genma shrugged at his child. "Go get ready."

"Saotome?" Soun Tendo looked out from the dining room and to where the man was standing, the man's hair was stuck out in every direction and he looked like he had just woken up. "Why is your son destroying my home?"

"Sorry old friend." Genma chuckled and scratched his head. "Occasionally Ranma overreacts. It's not that large a deal, I can have it repaired within the day."

"Really Saotome, I must insist that you not damage my house." Soun chided his friend.

"We should charge him for the inconvenience." Nabiki staggered into the room, half awake. "Whatever that boy did, it was loud enough to wake half the neighborhood."

"Nabiki, they are guests, besides if Saotome says he will fix it, it will be fixed." Soun frowned slightly at his child. "But I must say your son seems very skilled."

"Indeed Tendo, indeed." Genma nodded as he walked into the dining room and sat down.

"Well, I have business at school, so Akane will have to lead him there!" Nabiki gulped down a glass of water and rushed out.

"Well, that makes it easy!" Soun chuckled as he looked at his friend. "They will be able to get married in no time!"

Genma laughed.

* * *

"We aren't getting married you know." Akane frowned up at Ranma as the boy walked across the fence. "And why are you up there instead of on the ground like a normal person."

The teen looked down at the girl, and then looked up at the sky. "Ah, I just like being up high. And trust me, marrying a tomboy like you would be the last thing I would wanna do."

The blue haired girl's eyebrow twitched and she slammed her book-bag into the side of the fence. The fence wobbled and shook, but it hardly seemed to affect Ranma. "Jerk! When we get to school we don't know each other!"

"Hmm? I'm sorry were you saying something?" The boy looked at the fuming girl next to him.

"GAHH!" The girl pitched her backpack at the boy, who dodged it almost negligently before reaching out to snag the handle of it. "My book-bag!"

"Really, that could have fallen into the moat behind me." Ranma tossed the bag at the girl. "Don't take it as an insult if I don't catch something, it just means something more important is taking my attention."

Akane screamed out in frustration and slammed her fist into the fence with terrific force, breaking the perch Ranma was on with almost careless ease. In response the boy simply flipped over the girls head and landed behind her.

"Ya wanna fight?" Ranma cracked his neck "'Cause I think we both would need a decent one."

"Fine." Akane growled out and took a simple offensive stance.

Ranma just smiled at the girl and placed his hands behind his back. The gem hanging in the center of his chest glinted in the sunlight. To all observers he looked the very model of an uncaring opponent. Of course this just infuriated his opponent, and she charged forward in an attempt to injure the boy.

It was like trying to hit air, the boy ducked and weaved over every attack she could throw at him. Every time he moved it was just at the bare minimum and it was infuriating to try to hit someone who didn't look like he was even trying.

Swish, swish, swish. Every miss just made the blue haired girl more furious and redouble her effort to attack the boy. A fist at his head missed by a hair, a foot sweep was just leapt over, and no matter how she varied her attacks she missed.

"This is your best?" The boy finally mocked as Akane stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

"KIAAAA!" Akane screamed out and launched a massive strike that put all her others to shame. Her fist sped through the air, and half of her was surprised at how fast it was, and the other half expected to miss.

No one was more surprised than Akane when her fist smacked into something solid. For a moment she could only stare in surprise as he fist was caught by the boy's hand. No effort was involved, no wincing at the power, just a simple catch that blocked her very best.

"Not bad." The teen chuckled and pulled on the fist, causing Akane to overbalance and fall forward. He caught the girl and smiled down at her. "You might do, actually."

"Erk." Akane couldn't decide whether to pound the boy into paste or to faint from embarrassment. And was that roaring she heard?

"What in the..." Ranma trailed off as he looked past the school gates that the two had fought to. "Why is there a mob here?"

Akane looked to the side and her eyes widened. The girl tried to get something out, but couldn't. Being popular at her high school wasn't exactly a good thing. In her case it had resulted in an entire mob of boys fighting her just because of the rumor another popular classmate had spread. Normally she could deal with it by psyching herself up before the battle, but it was something else entirely to be unprepared.

"Heh, reminds me of old times." Ranma steadied Akane and took a simple attack stance as almost half the school bore down on him with the sort of fury only a mob could have. "Lets see if I can get this right!"

The boy took a deep breath, and for a moment Akane could swear she could see something bright flash under him. The he simply slammed his palm forward, still meters away from the nearest boy. The shock-wave formed from the strike scattered the mob like so many leaves in the wind.

Akane gaped in shock for a moment before shaking her head and glaring at the boy. "I could have handled myself!"

"Huh?" Ranma scratched his head as he looked at the girl. "They weren't after me?"

"Why would a horde form for you at a school you have never been to?" Akane asked flatly.

The teen shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

"The mob was there for me." Akane stated flatly as she looked at the now knocked senseless mob. "Though to be honest I really don't mind that happening."

"Then we are good!" Ranma chirped and walked into the school grounds. "Why would they do that though?"

"You there!" The voice made Ranma perk up and Akane groan.

"That's why." She muttered as she began to power walk into the building.

"You are being most familiar with the fair Akane," the voice continued and a boy stepped out from behind. "I will not permit it!"

"So it's your fault that these guys are going after her?" Ranma looked at the scattered mob members. "Kinda stupid actually."

"Only the one that defeats the beauteous Akane has been giving leave to date her," the newcomer declared, raising a wooden sword up high. "An uncouth knave such as you has no business with her."

"Really?" Ranma raised an eyebrow and sidestepped as the boy brought his sword down right where the pigtailed teen had been standing. "The names Ranma Saotome."

"I am Tatewaki Kuno, Blue Thunder of Furinkan High !" The sword wielding boy declared. "And you shall fall beneath my blade!" The boy swung his sword out again, blindingly fast.

"Doubt it." Ranma dodged the strike and blinked as he felt something graze his skin. "Huh, not bad."

"Strike!" Kuno took a stance and began to thrust his weapon impossibly fast. "Strike! Strike!"

"Air pressure alone." The pigtailed teen looked behind him to see the school walls crack from swordsman's strikes. "Not enough to beat me of course, but interesting at least."

"Strike!" Kuno continued to chant as he swung his sword, only to miss by wide margins every time.

"Too bad." Ranma chuckled and weaved around the wanna-be samurai. With an almost casual expression the teen passed by his opponent. For a moment Kuno looked confused, but then he slumped to the ground. "No challenge at all."

"Yo, showoff!" Akane yelled from the second floor of the school. "You are going to be late!"

One of the former horde members wandered by Kuno as Ranma jumped up to where Akane was. "It looks like the new kid just walked all over Kuno, literally."

Indeed the boy was absolutely covered in footprints. It was like someone had set him on the ground and tap-danced on his body. More than a few of the boys were quite intimidated by this discovery.

* * *

"We have a new student today." The teacher read off from his attendance sheet. "His name is Ranma Saotome and he just recently got back from a trip to China."

The boy looked supremely uninterested in the reactions from the rest of the class. Half of them looked like they were afraid, the other half looked fascinated. That it was split down gender lines was something that went over the boy's head.

"However, being new does not allow you to be late. Take the buckets by the door and wait in the hallway." The teacher directed.

Ranma just shrugged and picked up the buckets. The punishment might have been something for a normal person, but for him it was just mildly annoying. Akane looked mildly irritated at the boy as he left, but that was more that she was at the mercy of the school gossips.

Out in the hallway Rama just yawned and closed his eyes. Really this made life rather easy for him, he didn't need to pretend to pay attention when he was expected to wait outside.

_'School is turning out to be a rather strange mix of boring and interesting.' _ Ranma sent to both Fate and Nanoha. _'There was this nutty mob after that girl I told you about, and to top it all off there is some wanna be swordsman swinging a wooden sword around.'_

_'Really?' _Nanoha was the first to respond. _'I hope you didn't hurt them too badly.'_

_'Nah, I blew up at pops earlier, but I think I'm mostly over what happened.'_ Ranma sent, sighing audibly as he grimaced at the memory.

_'It's not your fault.' _Fate sent softly. _'It was never your fault.'_

_'I know, but it doesn't make it any easier.' _Ranma gave a bitter chuckle as he leaned against the wall, shifting the buckets a small amount.

_'Well, that's enough about that!' _Nanoha sent sternly. _'Fate has something interesting to tell you, and I found something really really funny that I sent away for. Since it's on midchilda it's going to take about a week to get here.'_

_'Huh?'_ Ranma sent with a perplexed expression. _'Hold up a second.'_

Opening his eyes the boy blinked a few times. He had gotten a bit too into transmitting and had gone on auto pilot. That had probably been a bad thing. Almost every student was poking their heads out of the classroom, and to his side someone was stuck through the wall..

"That did not hurt..." Kuno said shakily as he passed out.

"Whaaa?" Ranma blinked a few times as several students started chattering.

"Is it true? You are engaged to Akane?" One brave girl asked.

Akane just screeched. "Where did you hear that!?"

"It's true!" Someone in the crowd said.

"Here just a day and she's already stealing him!"

"Nooooo! Akane's been claimed!"

Ranma just sighed and hung his head as the school began to devolve into a massive cluster of rumors and speculation. Sadly, this was starting to become par for him.

* * *

"Really you didn't need to cause a scene like that." The blue haired girl muttered angrily at the boy.

"I don't think that was really my fault." Ranma shrugged as he walked out of the school. "At least it didn't degenerate enough that the teachers had to send us all home."

"You have had that happen before haven't you?" Akane just gave Ranma a look and shook her head as the boy nodded ruefully. "I'm engaged to a juvenile delinquent."

"Hey, I happen ta do good at school!" Ranma protested. "People just get pissed at me for stupid reasons. Like that Kuno guy!"

"Kuno's special, and not in a good way," Akane deadpanned in reply. "Wait, you have met more people like him?"

"Yep." Ranma put his hands behind his head and walked ahead of the girl. "It happens a lot to me for some strange reason."

Akane twitched as she looked at the boy. "I'm going to kill daddy for doing this to me."

"Hey!" Ranma turned around, ready to snap back at the girl. Just as suddenly as he turned his form blurred and the ground beneath where he was standing exploded. To the side Ranma looked at the rising cloud of dust with curiosity.

"Still good at running away Ranma." The voice that came out of the dust made Ranma's pigtail stand straight out.

"Hey, the new guy's getting into a fight again!" Several students began to gather from a safe distance.

"Awww damn." Ranma muttered and smiled falsely. "Hello Vita, how are you?"

"He's pissed off a Gothic Lolita!" One of the boys called out as the dust cleared.

The tiny figure that was revealed was indeed a Lolita, a red haired girl who looked about ten. She was dressed in a fairly elaborate red dress, and was wearing a red beret with a small bunny centered on-top. She would have looked adorable, if she hadn't been swinging about a croquet hammer that was apparently capable of shattering the ground beneath her. "You are going to pay for what happened."

"Hey, that was not my fault!" Ranma waved his arms in the air.

"That does not mean we are pleased with what happened." Another voice made several people turn as a pink haired woman walked through the front gates. "In fact, we wish to make you understand the depths of our displeasure."

The newcomer was older, looking to be in her mid teens to early twenties. Where The red haired girl had the Gothic Lolita look, this girl seemed to be dressed in pink tinted trench-coat and gauntlets. This woman looked formidable, dangerous. Just her walk across the courtyard had people backing away from her.

"What the heck is going on?!" Akane stepped between the boy and his opponents, placing her hands on her hips.

"This does not concern you girl." Signum stated as she continued to walk to where Ranma was. "Shamal, the barrier please."

Akane's eyes went wide as the crowd began to fade into the background and a blonde haired woman in green clothing appeared in front of her. Now there was only a slightly panicked Ranma with Vita, Signum, Shamal, and her.

"What did you just do?" Akane took a step back, looking very unsettled.

The blonde haired woman smiled at her. "You don't need to worry, this is just a way for them to have it out without any trouble. Consider it a false world."

"Really, you didn't have to come all this way to say you are upset about what happened." Ranma chuckled weakly.

"Oh, we did." Vita smiled and swung her hammer out to the ready. "You failed to protect Nanoha and Fate."

"Prove your worth young knight." Signum stood to Ranma's side, a sword appearing in her hand like magic. "Prove it or be beaten and left in obscurity."

Ranma twitched. "Fine then." His voice went dead. "Let me show you all." He slammed his hand into his fist. "Nayru."

"Системы готовы. Запуск " The voice that spoke was female, sultry, and obviously Russian. With a bright flare of light Ranma's form was obscured.

When the light faded he was in black and red armor, smooth and flexible. It was a far cry from his previous casual clothing. Massive shoulder-guards with yellow highlights, heavy wicked looking boots and gauntlets, and a elaborate and formidable looking breastplate with a glittering green gem dominating the center. A new black cloak fluttered and twisted around his form, somehow far more mobile than cloth had any right to be.

The boy flexed his shoulders and thrust his hands out in a block as Vita's hammer impacted into his arm with terrific force, sending sparks of magic everywhere. The impact was like a lighting bolt hitting the ground. Ranma's feet slid back a small amount, but unlike when they had first fought he was able to match her strength.

"You are going to have to try harder." Ranma smiled at Vita and kicked out with one booted foot.

Vita dodged back and Signum used that timing to lunge forward, her sword impacting into Ranma's gauntlet with a clang. With screech the sword slid off to the side and Signum was forced to dodge an incoming fist.

With a flourish Ranma's cape swirled and dropped to the ground. Signum and Vita both spent a critical instant located the boy, and were forced to block as two discusses flew at them. The discusses ground into the block with a shower of sparks before flying off into the distance.

To the side Akane looked at the fighters with wide eyes. This was so far beyond what she was used to that it was frightening.

"Don't worry, they are just letting off some steam." Shamal spoke soothingly from the side. "Your name is Akane right?"

"Yes." The girl nodded absently.

"Tell me about yourself while we watch." Shamal smiled warmly at the girl. "We would like to know a bit about the girl Ranma might be marrying."

"Huh?" Akane blinked and looked to the blonde haired girl at her side.

"Well, Ranma is a dear friend of ours, so we would like to be sure that his potential wife wouldn't be..." Shamal placed a finger at her mouth in thought. "Inappropriate."

Despite herself Akane felt a chill.

Back at the battle Signum and Vita both finally spotted Ranma. The boy was smiling at them, perched on all fours on a very small magical circle in the air. Below him his cloak rippled and flowed up to where he was in a long thin black line, settling on his back. His shoulder pauldrons whirled in the air right next to where they should have been attached.

"I see that you have a few new tricks." Signum commented from her place on the ground.

"Oh you have no idea." Ranma chuckled at the girls. "I will say that it's nice to really cut loose." His grin turned feral. "Try not to cry okay? I hate ta see a girl cry."

"You will be the only one crying!" Vita growled out and swung her hammer at the boy. The tool lengthened impossibly, and grew to immense proportions, missing the boy and impacted the ground hard enough to crater it.

Ranma rolled though the air and swerved his body so that he could use Signum's attack to propel himself back to the ground. With a huff he landed like a cat, and swirled his cape like a matador. Signum blocked, and found herself surprised as the cloth impacted like a sword instead of a piece of clothing.

Vita seeing the trick ran in to reinforce her ally, and Ranma rolled out of the way of her strike, almost dancing as he sent his shoulder pauldrons out. Vita and Signum deflected the projectiles easily, but that gave Ranma enough space to chuckle and quite literally drop through the ground.

Both girls wasted no time placing themselves back to back, scanning the environment. Vita spotted the boy first. "Up there!"

Upon being spotted the boy turned and ran back out of sight, clearly anticipating that the girls would chase after him. However, both fighters knew Ranma's skills and to follow the boy into an obvious setup would grant him the advantage. So both girls charged up their magic, and launched their most powerful attacks at the building itself, exploding the high school into pieces.

Behind the fighters Akane screamed and covered her head as pieces of rubble pinged off a transparent shield. Shamal just chuckled and patted the girl on the back. "Don't worry, I have a barrier up to deflect any stray attacks."

"They just turned the school into rubble!" Akane pointed out as Ranma staggered out of the ruin smoking and slightly battered.

"Don't worry, the damage from that will be contained in this world. Once I drop the barrier it will be as if nothing happened." Shamal replied serenely.

Ranma coughed out a bit of dust as he glared at both smirked knights. "Ya know, I should have expected that."

"Probably." Vita chuckled and placed her hammer on her shoulder. "I think this test was enough, what do you think Signum?"

"I believe your new device suits you." Signum sheathed her sword and smiled at the boy. "It's nice to see you have kept up your progress."

"Yeah, yeah yeah." Ranma waved an arm and dusted himself off.

"Would someone explain to me what is going on!?!" Akane finally screamed out.

* * *

"So, Akane, what were you and your fiancee up to? You disappeared so suddenly with those two strange women that people were getting all sorts of ideas" Nabiki smirked at her sister from the entrance of the girls room.

"They were Ranma's friends." Akane muttered and pressed her face into her pillow. "I really don't want to talk about it, they are all insane."

"Really?" Nabiki chuckled and continued to nettle her sister. "I mean it's no shame to be jealous of an obviously attractive woman, and that little pipsqueak that trashed the ground is popular as well."

"You are already selling information about them aren't you?" The blue haired girl glared at her sister from her place on the bed. "It's probably your fault that rumor got out as well."

"A girl's gotta make a living after all," was the shameless reply. "So spill, what's up with the Lolita and the knight."

"I don't know." Akane admitted and turned away from her sister, curling up on her side. "They scare me though. You saw how Ranma was able to deal with Kuno. That was just him playing around."

"Really? He fought the two? I didn't take him the type to pick on little girls." The brown haired girl commented seriously.

Akane snorted in reply. "Don't here you call her that. The little one is Vita, and apparently she's around Ranma's age. She's also someone who likes fighting him."

"Ah, the battle maniac type?" Nabiki had experience with that type, all of the Tendos did actually. The dojo had once been full of students, and occasionally you had a boy or two who got really into the whole combat thing.

"Yeah," Akane sighed out and sat up to look at her sister. "I thought Ranma was just a really good martial artist, but what he and his friends are capable of is beyond everything I thought possible."

"Why you sound intimidated little sister." The brown haired girl smirked at the thought.

Akane shrugged in reply. "I am."

* * *

_'And then I end up embedding Kuno in the wall without even realizing it.'_

_'To be frank it sounds as if he deserved that just a little.'_

_'Nyhaha, I'm surprised you could actually admit that. I think that you didn't hit him hard enough.'_

_'Not everything can be solved by beating it into submission Nanoha.'_

_'Most of it can!'_

_'See! Ranma agrees with me.'_

_'You two have some of the strangest solutions to problematic people.'_

_'Heh, believe it or not this place isn't the strangest I've been to.'_

_'Really?'_

_'What was?'_

_'Meh, there were two really weird worlds me and pops hit. One was a really weird place where the chi adepts were actually famous and had some really wicked battles on national TV. Had a bit of fun at a school there were battle was encouraged. Couldn't do much due to still being sealed, but it was fun.'_

_'Sounds a lot like Midchilda schools actually.'_

_'Really Fate?'_

_'Yes, from what little I have seen minor magic battles are allowed to show off basic shield and casting structures. They even have matches which are the equivalent to some of the more famous sports here.'_

_'Huh, that's why we have such a fan following.'_

_'Wait what? Since when did we have fans?!'_

_'Nanoha? How do you know we have fans?!'_

_'I can bet you are both blushing! You will have to wait and see how I know! So Ranma, what was the second weird place?'_

_'Huh? Oh, it was a weird place. There was a war going on when we dropped in, but it wasn't really running that hot so we were able to keep out of it somewhat. Really the weird part was the guys in the desert. They all had some strange potion that they bathed their kids in, it made their skin really white. To top it all off they had another paint that made their skin permanently black. The weirdest thing was their eyes were sorta cloudy. It gets really eerie when they look at you.'_

_'Sounds interesting actually.'_

_'Yeah, what were they like besides the weird body paint.'_

_'It's hard to explain. Me and pops arrived in the middle of a trial. They had this boy about my age standing outside in just a loincloth. Picture this, a pure white kid tied up in ropes in the center of the city, just smiling at people passing by. Almost all the people were avoiding us, and we had a pair of tails watching us. Then out of the blue this kid starts talking with us.'_

_'This is in the desert right? Where you can die if you stay out in the sun like that?'_

_'Ick.'_

_'Turns out that's actually the tail end. The kid had been accused of killing his father. Their entire culture revolves around what they call sin and virtue. People paint themselves black to emphasize their sins, it's also why children are pure white.'_

_'That's.. Strange.'_

_'But this kid was left out to die in front of all these people? Without even seeing if he did it?!'_

_'Actually he did it. The kid was really friendly, but it can get really creepy talking with him, he's all so cheerful, but just having him look at you was like being analyzed and judged. Turns out he had a reason, but still you could tell that the kid would do whatever he needed to.'_

_'So what happened to the child.'_

_'Yeah, what?'_

_'They did something they called naming. He's called Justified Wrath now, and so far as I know he's training to be one of their mages. I don't understand a lot of what those people were like, but they had some very vicious fighting styles. For some reason Wrath liked me, so I got the hundred yen tour.'_

_'Strange name.'_

_'Really really strange culture.'_

_'Yeah, I do know that you don't want them mad at you.'_

_'Well, it's getting late now. We can talk again tomorrow Ranma.'_

_'Goodnight Fate, Nanoha!'_

_'Night!'_

_

* * *

  
_

"And you do that every day?" Ranma blinked as he looked down from his place on the fence.

"Yes," Akane huffed out as she walked along the sidewalk. "Ever since Kuno proclaimed that you had to beat me to date me, an entire crowd has started to gather outside the school."

"Meh, bunch o' idiots." The pig tailed boy snorted and hopped down next to Akane. "If they had pulled that shit with Nanoha or Fate I woulda broken a few bones. Why didn't you?"

The girl huffed and shrugged uncomfortably. "They are being polite aside from the challenges. Really they think I want it to happen, and I stick out enough without being considered a bully."

"That really doesn't make much sense." Ranma just gave Akane a flat look.

"I know." Akane grimaced in reply. "Honestly if I did it by accdent I wouldn't care, but they are all from families around here and have enough training that if I wanted to injure them it would be very obvious."

"You don't have it in you." The boy shrugged and placed his hands behind his head. "That's OK actually, not many people do. It's a good thing that you don't want to hurt people."

"We are from a martial arts family," The blue haired girl replied looking slightly confused.

Ranma chuckled and looked up at the sky nonchalantly. "That doesn't mean you have to like hurting people. Nowadays martial arts is used to better oneself, or to keep in shape. It's a relic from the past to use it for it's original purpose."

"Original purpose?" Akane looked confused.

The pig-tailed teen looked at Akane and for some reason the girl felt a small chill thrum through her body for an instant. "To eliminate your opponent."

That cast a silence over their conversation, Akane being unsure of how to answer that. Fortunately it didn't last long as they approached the school and Akane began to tense. Ranma looked from the school to the girl and deliberately stepped back, as if to give her the signal that he was letting her handle it.

The girl huffed to herself and began to run as she psyched herself up. Growling she sprinted across the pavement and into the school ready to being smashing her opponents. Only when she got in she found them all gathered near the entrance of the school, several of them crying, and the rest obviously not ready to fight.

"Akane!" A boy spoke out. "We are here to regretfully withdraw our competition for your date!" The boy sobbed out melodramatically. "We accept your engagement to Ranma Saotome!"

Akane gave a full body twitch and her face began to contort between confusion and black rage. Kuno's voice cemented what she should be feeling, and she turned to the boy as he began to protest.

"Nay! I say, NAY! I shall not except this travesty! Ranma Saotome is a foul demon who blights this land, somehow en-scrolling the fair and beauteous Akane!"

"Upperclassmen Kuno." Akane smiled cutely at the boy, who looked at her with an infatuated expression, unmindful of the fact that near everyone was edging away from the girl.

"Yes fair one?" The only sound in the courtyard was that of grinding bone and a scream of pain from the teenager. A few cracks and pops and then Akane dusted off her hands and walked into the school.

Ranma blinked as he finally got into the courtyard, seeing almost all of the boys near petrified with fear and a pretzel of human flesh right in front of him. Akane had managed to twist the boy into a surprisingly complicated shape. There wasn't any permanent damage, but it sure looked very painful. The boy just shrugged and followed the girl.

"I don't think I know that one," he commented to Akane as he caught up to her.

"Oh, that one's easy." Akane smiled at the boy, showing none of her previous rage. "Daddy calls it salt and pretzel. You twist them just right and look like a pretzel and can only cry."

"Thereby making the salt." Ranma nodded in appreciation as the two entered the classroom. "Pops has one he calls the water basket. You can hang them up on things."

"Really?" The girl smiled brightly, oblivious to the fact that nearly all the boys in the classroom had moved their desks to the other side of the room. "Maybe you can show me sometime?"

"Of course." Ranma chuckled and sat down.

"Good morning class." The teacher walked into the room and blinked as he noticed a wide empty area around both Ranma and Akane. "I would ask why you are all like that, but the reason would probably give me a headache, so for my own sanity I will ignore it. We have a new student again today."

"Oh, it's that girl we saw!" One of the school gossips sighed out. "It's another beauty to get all the attention."

"Miss Testarossa?" The name made Ranma's head snap to the front of the classroom.

A beautiful blonde teenager walked into the room. A little taller than the norm she almost flowed as she walked into the room, with long blonde hair done up in two ponytails and beautiful expressive red eyes, she instantly captured the attention of every male in the classroom. She made the uniform look flattering, and nearly every female in the classroom instantly hated her.

"Hello, my name is Fate Testarossa." The girl bowed and spoke with a smooth soft voice.

"Wow! What are your sizes!" One of the boys piped up.

"Hey, I saw her fist!"

" No way! I did!"

"I love you Fate, go out with me!"

Almost all the boys near lunged out of their chair to approach the girl. They moved forward like an inexorable tide and then were slammed onto their backs as a blur of movement hit each and every one of them. One second the boy had been in his seat and the next he was in front of the classroom glaring at each and every one of them.

Completely unperturbed Fate just smiled at the rest of the class. "And Ranma is one of my most dear friends. I hope that we can all get along."

"Heyya Fate," Ranma smiled brightly as he spoke, almost visibly relaxing. "I guess this is your surprise?"

"Yes. Nanoha is actually rather annoyed that she couldn't do it as well, but she can visit when her school is out." The blonde girl smiled in reply.

"Wow Akane, not even engaged a day and the boy is cheating on you." One of the gossips whispered to the blue haired girl.

The teacher just sighed and went to his desk, opening a drawer and taking out a bottle. "Everyone back to their seats. If anyone gets up again you will have detention for the next week." He threw several pills of aspirin into his mouth. "Miss Testarossa you can sit next to Ranma."

"Who is this Ranma?" Akane growled out as the boy sat next to her with the blonde girl.

"Huh?" Ranma blinked and looked at his fiancee with a blank look for a moment before realizing what she meant. "Oh, that's Fate." The boy shrugged as if it was obvious. "We've know each other since we were tiny."

"He hasn't changed much." Akane was starting to realize that Fate's default level of voice was soft and timid. "Still the brash little boy that likes to pick fights."

"Like you and Nanoha have changed much either?" Ranma shot back with a smile.

"Not really." Fate shrugged and got out a small textbook. "I'm rather glad for that honestly."

Akane blinked a few times as she felt her jealously fade away to be replaced by an odd envy. The two were so obviously good friends that it was near impossible to be angry at them. "So since he was tiny? When was that time wise?"

"Ranma met Nanoha around ten." Fate spoke as she got out a pencil. "Me a few months after that, we have kept in contact since then."

"And he's always like that?" Akane blinked and pointed at the oblivious boy. "How many fights did you get into?"

"Quite a few." Ranma chuckled out.

"We weren't exactly normal children," the blonde girl added on.

Ranma got a funny look on his face as he tried to imagine Nanoha as a normal child, shortly thereafter Fate choked as he sent an image telepathically. "I try to imagine Nanoha playing with dolls, and I don't see it."

Chibi Nanoha picks up a doll and fiddles with it. Chibi Fate picks up another doll and makes a gesture with it, Chibi Nanoha then places a small staff into the dolls hand. The doll then sends out a softball sized pink beam of doom, and incinerates the other doll.

"Yeah," Fate coughed out as she tried to contain her giggles. "I can't see it either."

"Ahem!" The teacher glared at the three. "Please pay attention."

"Yes teacher!"

* * *

Lunch time at the school was actually fairly tame considering how strange the school could be. Students were allowed to go anywhere on campus to eat so long as they were actually on the school grounds. Since it was a bright and sunny day the majority of the students were outside. Ranma had claimed a spot by one of the few trees dotting the area. Naturally Fate sat right next to him. Akane had meant to sit with her friends, but with the way the blonde girl was staying nearby the boy rubbed her the wrong way.

"So how are the kid's you adopted?" Ranma asked casually as Akane settled down across from her fiancee.

"What?!" Akane yelped loudly, causing half of the student body to look at her. She quieted quickly and hissed out. "Fate is adopting?!"

"Yes, or more accurately my mother is adopting." Fate replied quietly, completely unperturbed by the blue haired girl's reaction. "Both of them are doing well, Caro's still really shy though. Erio is recovering remarkably well."

"Eh, not surprised really." Ranma shrugged as he opened his lunchbox and began to quickly eat. "I'm glad the midgets are doing all right. Erio was heading to bad places before you found him."

"True," the blonde haired girl replied with a melancholy expression.

"You can't save everyone Fate." Ranma looked at his friend with a small smile before turning back to his lunch. "Just save what you can and cherish it."

"Ranma's picked up some wisdom I see." Fate giggled quietly.

Akane smiled briefly as she watched the two interact. It was like watching a couple who had been together for years. She was jealous, but it was a distant jealousy strangely enough. More envy than the burning jealousy in the tales of spurned lovers. She picked at her food for a moment then finally worked up the courage to speak.

"Do you have pictures of them?" Akane finally interjected into the silence.

"Yes I do actually." Fate smiled and pulled her handbag close to her, opening it up and flipping through a small book.

"Oh no." Ranma groaned and slumped. "Fate's gotten out her pictures."

"Hush you," Fate scolded playfully. "Or I will will bring out my favorite pictures of you."

"I'll be good!" Ranma held up his arms in surrender. "Please, not those!"

The blonde haired girl nodded with a wide smile. "Good boy."

"Favorite pictures of Ranma?" Akane couldn't contain her curiosity. "What could make him do that?"

Fate shrugged in response, flipping to a page and showing Akane a picture of a small red haired boy and pink haired girl. "I like to collect pictures."

"She's got blackmail photos of everyone she knows." Ranma muttered as he finished his lunch and laid out on the ground. "And quite a few of them are of me and Nanoha."

"Who's Nanoha?" The blue haired girl asked as she finished looking at the picture.

"This is her." Fate flipped to a picture of her Ranma and Nanoha as children. "Or rather her a short time after we met."

Akane couldn't help her giggle. "You were adorable tiny! All of you were!"

Ranma just groaned as Fate giggled as well and began showing off a few more pictures. "I managed to get Genma to send a few of him as he was growing up, but Nanoha was with me the entire time so I have more of her."

"Ten year training trip, man among men and all that." Ranma interjected with a lazy drawl.

"I can't imagine such a innocent looking girl being friends with that troublemaker." Akane finally commented as she looked at a picture of a grown Nanoha hugging Fate.

Ranma began to laugh. "Oh, if you had met her you would know why."

"Apparently Nanoha introduced herself by tackling Ranma and beating him into submission." Fate finally got out as she giggled.

Akane just blinked and looked at the picture of Nanoha. "Really?"

"Oh yes, Nanoha makes friends quite easily..." Ranma was still snickering as he spoke. "If she's beaten you up first of course."

Fate flushed slightly. "She doesn't do that to everyone she's met."

"Name one person." Ranma replied back quickly.

"Chrono." The blonde haired girl replied just as quickly.

"They were really friends until Chrono tutored her on defensive spells." Ranma pointed out easily.

Fate frowned and thought for a moment. "Has Yuuno ever fought her?"

The pigtailed teen pondered about that. "Did she ever get him back for the fact that he was in ferret form when she was changing?"

"Now that you mention it." Fate giggled slightly as she looked off to the sky. "I think he did come back scorched once."

"See!" Ranma smiled triumphantly.

Akane just sighed and hung her head. "You have no normal friends do you?"

"Alisa and Suzuka are normal right?" Fate placed a finger on her lip in thought.

"Suzuka can shatter concrete with no training if you get her flustered enough." The boy pointed out. "Plus they are both from the top hundred richest families."

"I suppose none of our friends are normal." Fate shrugged in indifference. "That's not a bad thing."

"I swear this fiancee thing is going to kill me." Akane muttered dejectedly.

* * *

The end of the school day, where everyone fled the hallowed halls of learning and leaped to the freedom of the outside world. Ranma was no different from the rest of the children in this regard at least. At his side was Akane, and on his other side was Fate. Their exit was sedate, and surprisingly peaceful.

"Ranma!" The projectile in the shape of the girl impacted into the boy, who managed to absorb the momentum with a twirl, holding the girl close in a hug. "You took Fate away! Meany!" The girl laughed as she let go of the boy and stepped back.

The new girl was just as beautiful as Fate, with long brown hair and blue eyes that laughed. Her hair was done up in a small ponytail on the side of her head, and she was wearing a white uniform. Slim and energetic, the girl's smile was brilliant in it's intensity, and every male still at the school glared daggers at Ranma due to how familiar he was with her.

"You knew that she was transferring." Ranma chuckled and flexed a moment. "How was the trip here?"

"It was pretty short the way I was going." Nanoha smiled at the boy and gave Fate a hug. "I'm glad that Fate managed to come here though, even if our school is a bit more lonely."

"We needed someone here to keep the boy out of trouble." Fate giggled softly and embraced Nanoha back.

"Oh!" Nanoha took a step back and looked at Akane, who was fuming to herself. "You must be Akane! Pleased to meet you, my name is Nanoha Takamachi."

"Umm yes." Akane bowed to the girl. "You must be Nanoha."

"Yep!" The brown haired girl bowed back even as she spoke. "If you want, you can come with, Fate and I want to test our Ranma's new device."

"New device?" Akane asked blankly as she looked at the girl.

"I haven't gotten around to explaining things to her." Ranma scratched his head, and Nanoha glared slightly at the boy.

The brown haired girl sighed and hung her head. "I swear Ranma, you are impossible sometimes. Come with me Akane." Nanoha grabbed Akane and pulled the still slightly shell-shocked girl along. "You got the barrier this time Fate!"

"All right." Fate nodded and followed the two at a more sedate pace, Ranma trailing behind her with a bemused look.

The four walked through the streets until Nanoha found a relatively deserted park. A few students trailed after the group curiously, but they lost the four as the disappeared into seemingly midair as Fate setup a barrier to keep unwanted people from following. Inside the barrier Nanoha stopped next to a park bench and sat down on it.

"Ok, you are probably really confused right now." Nanoha chirped at the girl. "It's a real shock if you get dragged into this with no preparation."

"What is this?" Akane looked around the deserted park. "For that matter what's going on here?" The girl was rather disturbed at being dragged into what looked like another barrier.

"Fate and I are mages." Nanoha began to explain with a smile. "The knights already gave you the basics I think."

"They didn't say much, only that they were friends of Ranma, that Vita was older than she looked, and that the barrier thing was more a way of keeping things from being destroyed." Akane muttered and sat down next to Nanoha.

"Those are the basics. The Wolkenritter are very good friends of us all." The brown haired girl looked to where Fate and Ranma were speaking to each other. "How we met is a story for a different time, but most mages are able to put up a barrier like we have up now."

"It looks really handy." Akane looked around the park, completely deserted. "I really thought it was something that just those people were able to do."

"Any mage can do it with proper training." Nanoha waved her hand and conjured a small sphere of power. "We all have our particular talents."

"And Ranma's a mage?" Akane tried to put the pieces together.

Nanoha laughed outright at the thought. "No, he's a martial artist like you." The girl was leaving out the vast differences between their ideologies and the fact that chi and magic were most likely the same thing with different names.

"I saw him disappearing into thin air." Akane muttered in rebellion.

"Umm, how do I put this." Nanoha frowned slightly and finally pulled out a small red gem. "Here, hold this for a moment and concentrate."

"All right?" Akane griped the small stone and felt something echo through her body as she focused on it. "What was that?!"

"Your magic responding to Raging Heart." Nanoha took the stone back and smiled at it. "Thank you for your assistance."

"Your welcome, my master." The gem glowed as it spoke.

"ERK!" Akane scooted back away from the item.

"Don't worry, it's just my device." Nanoha smiled at the blue haired girl comfortingly. "It's a construct that allows me to focus my magic with far more ability than what I'm capable of my own."

"And Ranma has one as well?" Akane looked at the boy in question, who was gesturing as he spoke to Fate.

"His is specially made just for him." The brown haired girl replied. "It's similar, but the device is based on a totally different principle. We know what it was designed for, but Ranma is famous for using things in far different ways than they were intended."

"I think I get it now." Akane nodded in understanding. "You want to spar a bit to test out what's going on."

"Yep!" Nanoha stood up. "Maybe later we can bludgeon Ranma into giving you a few pointers. Feeling inadequate next to your fiancee would probably doom the marriage before it begins."

"Umm, thank you?" Akane replied as Nanoha walked to where Fate and Ranma were standing.

If Akane was honest with herself, it was a very tempting offer. Ranma was capable of things she could only dream of. But it remained to be seen if she could deal with the cost to her pride. As the sparring contest began to start up, she remained undecided, and would be for a long while.


	10. Chapter 10

"Set up!" The cry came from three people at once, and two of the three combatants' clothing shifted and blurred.

Ranma's former Chinese silks were replaced by his black and red armor. Fate's school uniform glowed and disappeared to be replaced by a red and black tight fitting bodysuit, and in one hand Bardiche appeared. Nanoha stayed in her white uniform, but the small red gem that she had been carrying shifted into an elaborate staff, more spear than pole-arm.

"So, free for all?" Ranma smirked as he crouched down.

"Sounds good." Nanoha tapped her Raging Heart on the ground and several dozen small pink spheres appeared and began to whirl around her.

Fate shifted her grip and Bardiche transformed, shifting and clanking as it changed into a massive yellow sword. "Show us what Nayru is capable of."

"Haven't had as much chance to practice as I would like." Ranma adjusted his gauntlets, and whirled his cape around himself.

As if that was the signal, Fate's body blurred into motion, slicing through the place where Ranma's cloak was. The blade whistled through the cloth, but Ranma's form had already dropped out of sight. The blond teen wasted no time in moving from her spot, narrowly avoiding the small spheres of pink light that hit the ground. The explosion was disproportionate to the size, and half the park was enveloped in dust and dirt from the impact.

To the side Akane watched the three fight with something approaching awe and terror. This demonstration was like watching giants fight, the power on display was that immense. The girl had little idea what to think, and could do little but watch.

Up in the air Nanoha calmly reformed a few more spheres of light, sending them to whirl around her form like tiny stars. She had an idea of where Fate was, but Ranma was as usual nearly impossible to detect. These games tended to resolve themselves into set patterns. One versus one Nanoha could beat Ranma two out of three times, Fate would lose versus Ranma two out of three times. So when they had a free for all, Nanoha was Ranma's first target, and Fate's first target was Ranma, while if Nanoha wanted to win she had to beat Fate first. It was a rather amusing dynamic, done more in fun than any serious matter.

Just in time Nanoha managed to sense a small flare of magic, and instinctively the girl turned to where she felt it, flaring a circular shield of power. Off in the distance she was surprised to note Ranma's form. The boy had no ranged attacks to speak of to her knowledge.

Halfway across the park Ranma grit his teeth and focused his power. In front of the boy a series of circles were revolving and whirling with frantic motion, and in the center of his chest Nayru flared with power.

"Accelerated Gatling." The boy growled out and his hands began to blur with frantic speed. The sound was like a thousand gunshots at once, and the air blurred in front of him

In the air Nanoha's eyes widened as she saw the air in front of her blur, and enlarged her shield. Like a tsunami the waves of air washed and impacted into her shield, cracking it ominously.

"IMPACT!" The pig tailed teen yelled out in triumph as he reared back and slammed a glowing fist forward.

A massive shock-wave shot forward towards Nanoha, shattering her shield like glass and knocking her out of the air. Like the experienced mage she was Nanoha let the spell wash over her, just barely managing to stabilize herself and send every single sphere of power at the boy. Gritting her teeth Nanoha found herself grinning manically as a small trickle of blood ran out of her ear.

The spheres of power flew through the air with terrific speed, causing Ranma to jump back to avoid the first wave. Behind him Fate materialized with her sword in position to strike the boy. Just in time the boy brought his arm to block the yellow blade, which impacted with a shower of sparks. A contest of strength was abruptly aborted as the rest of Nanoha's attack impacted in between the two, just barely missing them.

The dust screen obscured both Fate and Ranma, and behind that cover Bardiche shifted into it's casting mode and Fate aimed her weapon at Ranma's general direction.

"Thunder Smasher." The device intoned, and a massive blast of yellow energy scythed through the ground and trees of the park.

"Nice try." Ranma breathed into her ear as he appeared behind the girl.

Calmly Fate merely swung Bardiche at Ranma. The weapon whistled over his head as the boy ducked and struck out, only to be blocked as the girl swung the haft of her weapon into position. The girls form sparkled with electricity and Ranma stepped back as she slammed Bardiche into the ground, causing the ground around her to light up in yellow light. With smooth motions the girl deftly manipulated the weapon and instead of one massive sword two smaller swords appeared in both her hands.

Not to be outdone Ranma swung his arms out and sent both his shoulder-guards at the blonde teen. With a whirling sound they swung by the dodging Fate, and the girl lunged forward, both weapons swinging.

Off in the distance Nanoha's grin hadn't dissipated. Positioning herself up in the air she had slowly gathered her power and was now ready to let loose. Several circles of light lit up around her weapon and began to revolve.

"STARLIGHT BREAKER!" The girl yelled out as a massive and almost inescapable blast of power lit up like a second sun.

Both Fate and Ranma looked up too late as the beam washed through the area. Deftly Fate positioned herself right behind Ranma, forcing the boy to take the brunt of the attack. The wave of pink power washed over the boy as he crossed his arms over his face and growled in exertion. The attack seemed to last forever.

With a cough a singed Ranma dropped to his knees momentarily, but stood up unassisted, almost unharmed.

"Nayru's barrier is impressive." Fate spoke softly as she tapped her sword on the back of Ranma's head. "Got you."

"Damn." Ranma sat down and pouted slightly as Fate shifted and blurred through the air.

Nanoha spotted Fate's attack just a moment before it impacted, and brought Raging Heart into a block. Both of Fate's swords began to blur as the blonde attacked with almost clinical precision. The attacks sounded more like bolts of thunder than anything else, and very quickly Nanoha was on the defensive.

With a shout the brown haired girl sent up a massive pink shield, and moved back, pointing Raging Heart at her opponent. Too late the girl realized that was exactly what Fate wanted. The blonde smirked and channeled her power.

"Sonic move." She intoned and disappeared in midair.

Nanoha's barrier shattered and Fate appeared right behind her, sword placed directly over Nanoha's neck. The girl pouted but conceded the victory.

"Nice going Fate!" Nanoha chirped loudly.

"Thank you." Fate began to float downwards.

"What?" Nanoha asked in confusion. "I couldn't hear you!"

The blonde haired girl blinked and looked at Nanoha curiously. Finally she took a step forward and grasped Nanoha's chin, forcing the girl to look to the side. _ 'Your eardrums are ruptured.'_

_'Oh,' _Nanoha sent back with the mental equivalent of surprise. _'That attack of yours is nasty Ranma.'_

_'You ok?'_ Ranma's reply was quick and worried.

_'Just a bit deaf, it will pass in about an hour I think.' _ Nanoha sent back reassuringly. _'I may not be as good as you, but I do know that technique now.'_

The pig-tailed teen trotted up beside Nanoha with a slightly worried expression that cleared up when he got a good look at the girl. "Whew, thought I damaged something serious."

"You didn't," Fate smiled in reply. "But I think that's enough for now."

"Yeah, probably." Ranma shrugged and looked a the devastation that their spar had caused. "I'm so glad that the barrier negates this."

"What?" Nanoha asked curiously.

Ranma chuckled weakly at the brown haired girl.

Almost forgotten in the background Akane slowly began to creep out from her hiding spot behind the park bench. That had probably been one of the most terrifying things in her life.

* * *

_Some time ago, in the science lab of a TSAB warship._

_

* * *

_

"_I don't think I have ever seen an affliction so insidious." The man commented almost cheerfully as he looked at the image displayed in the monitor. "Look, you can see here where it latches onto the linker core and basically forces it to reroute. You get hit by this, and not only will you have the obvious affliction, you would have to relearn how to channel your magic from the ground up."_

"_That's interesting." Lindy replied sourly. "My question is can you cure it?"_

"_Eh?" The man blinked owlishly at the officer. "Ack, of course, what do you take me for? Some grade school elementary student? I could cure this affliction in my sleep!"_

"_Good!" Lindy chirped, obviously relieved._

"_Of course, it will take time. And money." The man shrugged as he looked at the screen again. "This isn't like that self reinforcing intelligent device. A magical curse this vicious latches onto the very fabric of the linker core. If we wish to pry it out we will have to take it out hook by hook."_

"_This curse is taking out some of our top mages." Lindy frowned at the man. "We need it removed as fast as possible."_

"_It will take about a year." The man turned around to face Lindy with a shrug. "That's if you want them to actually use magic again. I could go in their examination room right now and rip it out if you want. Of course it would cause irreparable damage. Besides, without a proper work request and approval I can't do anything."_

"_This is a matter of necessary medical treatment." The teal haired woman growled out. "You shouldn't be delaying this over something as trivial as paperwork."_

"_Need I remind you how your soldiers got this affliction?" The doctor growled right back at the woman. "I'm the TSAB's best specialist in the matter of magic/body interaction. I'm not putting myself up for an infraction over your soldiers mistake in some backwater village."_

_Lindy twitched and clenched her fist. "If you weren't so good at your job I would put you in the infirmary, Doctor Valentine."_

"_Da, I get that a lot." Valentine waved his hand and a floating keyboard appeared under it. "What I can do is give you a cost estimate of the treatment, and the basic outline of what one has to do. It's a lot cheaper if you can get one of your own to deal with it than have me stationed here anyway. The procedure requires more patience than anything else. I'll give you a program that should nullify the basic mechanics of the curse. So long as the subjects keep their devices on them at all times the curse should not activate. That's within my discretion." _

"_Thank you." Lindy sighed and smoothed back her frazzled hair. "Why do I always end up yelling at you?"_

"_Best not to answer that question." The doctor typed a few lines into the floating keyboard. "As it is, I'm done assisting with Nayru and I've dealt with that strange curse, so I will be off on the next available port."_

"_I'm glad that the device is done at least." Lindy moved to the other side of the room and picked up the large glittering gem. "I probably should have called you in earlier about this one."_

"_Wouldn't have helped." Valentine banished the keyboard. "I actually just interpreted the data that Raging Heart and Bardiche had gathered. The two linked up and got a fairly good diagram of the boy's magical flows. The new device would be best described as their child than anything that could be considered my work."_

"_Humility dear doctor?" Lindy teased as she hefted the gem, surprised at how weighty it felt._

"_I know when I'm in over my head." The doctor shrugged. "The boy's magical pathways are radically different than your typical Belkan or Mid-Childen style mages. A device designed for those two would be weak at best and damaging at worst. Raging Heart and Bardiche managed to surprise me with their innovation. However, once I analyze the data, if needed I could replicate and maybe even improve the original design. Consider Nayru a prototype."_

"_You have a projection of it's capabilities?" The teal haired woman asked curiously as she pocketed the device._

"_That I could do." Valentine tapped a nearby screen and then inputted a few numbers in. "It won't have the amplification techniques of your typical device, but it will have roughly double the calculation and defensive capabilities. I remember a recording of your darling daughter getting Bardiche cracked and smashed in one fight. Nayru has a good chance of actually breaking the attacker first. I added a generic interface to the design to help leverage the processing power as well. Aside from those two strengths, the device is outfitted to run with a very low profile. At full power it should broadcast the equivalent magical signature of a slightly talented civilian."_

_Valentine chuckled as he continued. "While Nanoha's Raging Heart is designed as Artillery, and Fate's Bardiche is best pictured as a fighter jet, Nayru is probably best described as a tank with a stealth mode."_

"_Sounds formidable." Lindy nodded at Valentine. "Have a safe trip out."_

"_Da, da." Valentine waved his hand as Lindy walked out of the room._

_

* * *

_

Thanks to the barrier that Fate had put up all the damage caused by the sparring session vanished like it never was. Fate and Ranma went home, tired, but happy from the exertion, but Nanoha snagged Akane before the girl could walk away. Put simply the brown haired girl has found that the blue haired girl was a bit shell shocked, and wanted to help Akane get a hold of herself.

"Thank you!" Nanoha chirped as she took the ice-cream bowels from the vendor. With a bounce the girl walked to where Akane was still sitting and set them down. "Sorry for scaring you like that. We sometimes forget that most people here aren't used to things like that."

"From here?" Akane's expression sharpened.

"I travel a lot," Nanoha's reply was slightly evasive. "I was born nearby, but what I know is actually a style of magic from a place pretty far away.."

"That doesn't answer anything." The blue haired girl just sighed and picked up a spoon. "But considering what you are capable of I think I get what's going on."

"I can explain better when we aren't in a place so public." Nanoha shrugged and popped a spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth. "Really, I hope we didn't scare you too badly. Fate and I might not be pleased that Ranma is engaged, but we don't want it to be stopped because of us."

"You are really close to him aren't you." Akane commented as she leaned on her hand and looked at Nanoha.

"We've gone through a lot together." The brown haired girl looked out the window for a moment searchingly before shrugging and turning back to the girl. "He's one of the few people that can keep up with me. It's nice having someone who can push you to win."

Akane smiled briefly at the girl and turned her attention to the ice-cream. "You make me jealous when you talk like that. He's supposed to be my fiancee and I find that he's closer to these two pretty girls than to me."

"Sorry." Nanoha grimaced at the thought. "I can guess how bad it would feel, we are sort a package deal aren't we?"

"Yeah." Akane sighed and dug into her ice-cream. Left unsaid was that Akane wasn't sure if she could deal with it.

Nanoha opened her mouth to speak, but instead threw her hand out to the side frantically as the wall exploded inward. The force from the explosion knocked both girls out of their seat, blowing easily through Nanoha's hasty, imperfect barrier. From her place on the ground Akane caught the brief glimpse of purple hair before she heard a loud clank.

To her side Nanoha grit her teeth and held up Raging Heart in staff mode, blocking the massive multicolored mace. The purple haired girl growled out at the mage, and swept her weapon out in an arc, snapping the staff to the side where she slammed the thing out of Nanoha's hands with a quick and brutal disarm. Nanoha was forced back half a step, just barely dodging the swing from the mace in the girl's other hand.

"Raging-!" Nanoha attempted to call back her weapon, but instead gasped as the purple haired girl swept her hand out and threw a splash of cold water.

Akane gaped as Nanoha's form dissolved into a pile of clothing, and the purple haired girl lunged forward, aiming her mace in a sweeping downward arc. Barely thinking Akane charged forward, impacting into the girl and picking up the clothing pile. With a shriek she dodged the now furious girls swings and ran out of the store.

As she ran she felt the clothing pile move a bit and out popped a small ferret head, chattering madly. The animal ducked into the pile as the purple haired girl charged after Akane, smashing the door into pieces in her haste.

"Shampoo kill!" The girl growled out as she ran.

"That's you isn't it Nanoha." Akane panted and dodged another strike from the girl. "Don't worry, I got you." At some point the shocks apparently stopped affecting someone, or maybe Akane had passed the point where the weirdness affected her.

Akane was in the upper percentile of her class physical capability wise. Considering the entire district was specialized in various martial arts, she was actually in the top ninety percent of the world. Even with this distinction she just barely kept ahead of Shampoo.

"Stop it!" Akane growled out as she dodged another mace strike. The skill level between the two of them was just too great for her to do more than run. "Gotta get home." As much as it galled her she couldn't handle this girl and take care of the obviously frightened Nanoha.

As she approached her home her heart sank, there in front of the street was Ranma in full armor, desperately parrying a what looked like a brown blur. Around his feet where several chains, and as Akane watched she saw several more wrap around the boy's hand. Behind him was a forlorn looking dog barking wildly at the boy's opponent. Akane gulped as she noticed Bardiche next to the dog, on the ground.

As Akane approached the fight she saw a brown haired boy in a robe and glasses send another group of chains out of his sleeve. Gulping she charged forward, ignoring the fact that this was rapidly getting out of her league. With a might scream she slammed her foot into the back of the brown haired boy, slamming him into the Tendo dojo wall. She kept running past Ranma and next to what she assumed to be Fate.

"You recognize this?" Akane spoke down to the ferret still safely in her arms. The ferret chattered and hopped out of the bundle of cloth and onto the dog's head.

"Thanks Akane." Ranma chuckled out and his arms blurred as he blocked another series of blurs.

The blur resolved itself into a very old, and very short woman, who cackled evilly. "That might have stopped Shampoo from her task, but it only magnifies who you have to defend."

Ranma just smirked, "It also give me the chance to call in reinforcements."

"True true." The old woman shrugged and backed up. "But we could just fade into the background again. We've gone through this song and dance before."

The purple haired girl ran up to the woman's side, snarling. A few quick sharp words from the old woman had her stop suddenly though. The boy picked himself up from his spot on the ground and stood, obviously ready to fight still.

"Yeah, I remember that." Ranma's eyes glinted and the gem at the center of his chest crackled with magic. "What makes you think that it will go any different than last time?"

"Then we go through the same old thing again, and again." The old woman waved her staff in the air. "We know your weaknesses, and sooner or later one of you will make a mistake. We can find you anywhere if we need to. Do not doubt that."

"So why are you still here and not fighting?" The reply from the boy was swift and cold.

The old woman shrugged and placed her staff on her shoulder, the very picture of nonchalance. "This little conflict of ours has been an epic tale, but it's getting boring. I propose a cease fire, and maybe we can arrange a deal of some sort."

Ranma laughed bitterly at the woman. "Hah! You want me to deal?" At his side the blonde dog whimpered and nudged the boy. Snarling viciously, Ranma backed up a few feet. "Fine. But if this doesn't work out..." The last part of the sentence trailed off ominously.

"You are too kind!" The old woman cackled and began to walk away. "We will contact you again soon."

Ranma sighed and patted the dog at his side, feeling the ferret scamper up his arm and onto his shoulder. "Yeah I know, this sucks."

"I don't want to know." Akane just shook her head and walked into the Tendo compound. "Too much for one day."

"I'm going to be in the bath for a bit Kasumi." Ranma spoke nonchalantly as he walked into the house. "Could you be sure that no one bothers me?"

"Oh my." Kasumi looked at the two animals accompanying the boy. "Did you get new pets Ranma?"

The ferret make a sound suspiciously like a laugh as Ranma chuckled nervously. "Umm, something like that."

With a shake of his head Ranma walked up the stairs and to the bathroom. The girl had almost completely ignored the racket he had been making outside. He wasn't sure whether to be appalled or thankful. Entering the spacious bathroom the boy shut the door firmly behind himself and made a small arcane gesture, sealing the door shut.

The ferret shook her body and hopped off the boys shoulder while the blonde dog walked to the heated furo and hopped into the warm water. With a shifting splash of water Fate's naked body appeared, the water covering her modestly. Beside her the ferret jumped in and Nanoha appeared next to the blonde girl.

His back turned, Ranma ignored all that, cradling Nayru in his hands and concentrating. A small circle of power appeared in front of him, and he reached into it, pulling out both Raging Heart and Bardiche. The devices were in their resting forms, but looked no worse for wear.

"Here you are." Ranma turned and tossed the devices to the bath. With a sigh he slumped to the ground, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes.

"Thank you." Fate smiled and cupped Bardiche in her hand.

"Welcome back!" Nanoha chirped and examined Raging Heart with a smile before turning to look at Ranma with a concerned expression. "Ranma, you are shaking."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked and held out his hand. "That's new." He had to restrain himself from laughing hysterically.

"Ranma?" Fate looked at the teen with concern.

"I'm fine." The boy closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to ignore how his body shook with the aftereffects of his latest battle. "I've been through a lot worse, so why am I shaking?"

Ignoring the fact that she was unclothed Fate got out of the water and knelt next to Ranma. She took up one of his hands in her own and held it. On the other side of the boy Nanoha did the same. "It's ok."

"This is hardly appropriate." Ranma giggled a bit, closing his eyes as a few tears were squeezed out. "Whats going on?"

"Ranma." Fate spoke calmly. "It's fine, we are still here."

"_NANOHA!" His anguished voice called out as he reached out over the cliff. In those forms they couldn't survive a fall like that. "FATE! NO!"_

_The next emotion he felt was rage. Black and murderous, he wasn't conscious of picking up the devices, but suddenly they were in his hands, and he was staring across the field at the mob of people. The crackle of magic coursing across the weapons had never felt so lifeless._

"I should be over this dammit." Ranma grit out.

Fate wrapped her arms around Ranma and held the boy. "Sometimes it just catches up."

"It was really scary, but we came out fine." Nanoha continued softly. "You protected us just fine."

The boy took a deep shuddering breath and opened up his eyes. His vision was blurred by tears. "I hate these curses."

Both Nanoha and Fate said nothing as they sat next to the boy. The three stayed in that position for a long while, just being together, supporting each other.

* * *

"So spill, what's going on with our guests." Nabiki commanded imperiously as she and Kasumi barged into Akane's room "We heard the fighting outside, and then you come running up with a ferret in your arms."

"I don't want to talk about it." Akane sighed and buried her head in her pillow. "Those three are impossible to figure out. Just when I think I have a handle on what's going on they have some other strange thing that happens."

"So..?" Nabiki prodded her sister and frowned. "Information!"

Off near the entrance Kasumi fiddled with her apron strings and looked at her sister hopefully. "Please Akane?"

"Not you too." Akane groaned and tried to ignore her sister's prodding. "Really, it's too strange to talk about."

"But I saw Ranma walking into the bathroom with a dog and a ferret..." Kasumi mumbled softly. "I want to know what's going on."

"I think the dog was Fate." The girl on the bed replied thoughtfully before shrugging. "I'm trying to forget this day ever happened honestly."

"Oh come on!" Nabiki sat next to her sister and pinched her. "If that is her, aren't you jealous that your fiancee is in the bathroom with such a gorgeous girl?"

Akane opened her mouth to hotly deny anything, but closed it before she spoke thoughtfully. "You know... I don't think I am." The girl rolled over and looked at the ceiling, ignoring her curious sisters. "I should be, I know."

"So why aren't you?" Nabiki frowned at her sister, knowing that her sister had quite the possessive streak in her.

The girl just shrugged as she sat up and looked at her sisters. "You know how strong they are?" Akane crossed her legs and looked off at nothing, remembering their sparring contest. "I've seen them do things that I've never thought possible, and then act so nonchalant about it. It's like looking at giants and realizing how very small you are."

"So you're scared of them?" Kasumi asked curiously as she moved next to her sister and sat down.

The blue haired girl snorted slightly. "That's the strangest part. Fate and Nanoha are so nice. I can't be mad or scared with them."

"That doesn't mean that you can't be jealous." Nabiki pointed out sharply. "Why aren't you?"

Akane frowned thoughtfully. "It's like watching three pieces of a puzzle clicking together when you watch them. They aren't involved I don't think, but when they are together I feel like I'm intruding in something private sometimes."

"You aren't answering my question." The response was dry.

"I'm not part of their world." The girl finally got out. "I don't think I could be even if I had those strange magic items."

"Magic items?" Kasumi asked leaning forward.

"You know that gem that Ranma carries around?" Akane gestured to the center of her chest to indicate where it was. "The thing you said was a fake? Apparently it lets him do some really incredible stuff. Nanoha and Fate have something similar."

"I was wondering about that." Nabiki commented. "Fate and Nanoha don't really move like Ranma does. So they have some magic shortcut?"

"It helps I think." The blue haired girl shook her head. "They are very good at what they do though, I don't think that those devices give them everything. Nanoha let me hold hers."

"What was it?" Kasumi clasped her hands in front of her in interest.

"A little red gem that can turn into a really interesting staff." Akane held her hands apart to indicate how large it got. "It was actually really neat seeing them show off now that I think about it."

"Sounds like Akane's got an idol." Nabiki teased.

Akane snorted and turned her head away from her sister. "She turns into a rodent." The girl giggled as she fell onto her back with a smile. "But I do like her and Fate."

"That should make it easier if they aren't involved." Kasumi commented softly.

"Harder if they are." Nabiki replied with a small smirk.

Akane looked at her sisters in an odd sort of serenity. "I don't think this engagement will work out. If I ever have a boyfriend I don't want to share him."

"You try telling that to daddy." Nabiki snickered. "I don't think I've ever seen him so dedicated to an idea."

"At least he's happy." Kasumi, ever the optimistic one spoke.

"I will figure out something." Akane rolled onto her side away from her sisters. "I think I'm going to take a nap Kasumi, could you wake me for dinner?"

The brown haired girl nodded. "Of course."

"Later sis." The other sister got to her feet and walked out.

* * *

"Make sure that you be careful with that package!" The old woman scolded the boy as he carried the box. "If I have to get a new TV and miss any of my soaps you will be cleaning the entire building for a week!"

"_Why are we moving so close to the outsiders?"_ The purple haired girl questioned in Chinese with a frown from behind the woman.

"Japanese Shampoo. You won't learn it right if you don't practice it." The old woman scolded her granddaughter gently.

"Shampoo no like Japanese." The girl frowned as her tongue stumbled over the unfamiliar words. "She get's pronouns all backwards."

"You are understandable enough." The old woman shrugged. "It's always good to expand your horizons anyway." With a hop the tiny woman got on top of a table and looked at her granddaughter. "As for why we are so close, if we are going to keep this cease fire going we rather have to present an open front."

"Should just kill them and get it over with." Shampoo scowled darkly.

The old woman bopped her decedent on the head. "It was that attitude that nearly got half our war-party killed. If that boy hadn't been trained to use non-lethal strikes at almost all cost, you and all those woman you dragged on your fools crusade would be dead."

"They blew up half the village! If we didn't have all those funds stored up we would have lost the other half to famine." Shampoo snapped back. "Shampoo chased them because it's what a good warrior would do."

"A good warrior would have backed away when so obviously outclassed and rebuilt instead of seeking out revenge." The old woman sighed and pulled out a pipe. "It's not your fault, the entire series of events leading up to that fiasco looks foolish in hindsight. We can recover, but that doesn't mean we can't seek reparations."

"Humph." Shampoo crossed her arms and looked away.

"Of course, I would still like to know what you and that brown haired girl did to each other that caused you to be so antagonistic with each other."

"Shampoo not saying." The girl blushed furiously. "Ferret girl has offended Shampoo's honor. If this one can't avenge the dishonor she will avoid the girl."

"So long as you don't go off like you did again and jeopardize this cease fire you will be fine." The old woman blew out some smoke as she puffed at her pipe. "That goes for you too!"

"Yes Elder Cologne." The boy muttered sullenly as he brought another box into the building.

"Don't look so glum boy, you are in better graces than my pitiful descendant over here." Cologne waved her pipe at Shampoo. "Why keep this up Mousse and I might actually teach you a trick or two."

The bell above the shop rang as another person entered the building and both Cologne and Shampoo looked up as the person entered. The old woman waved her descendant off and sat back, smoking her pipe.

"I would say we are still closed for business, but I can see that you are not here for food." The crone cackled softly. "You have the same feel as those two girls that destroyed my village."

"You can tell that with just a glance?" Lindy placed a hand on her chin in curiosity. "Your skill is indeed equal to what the reports say."

"Oh I'm flattered." Cologne waved her pipe at a chair. "Have a seat, I didn't anticipate you finding us so soon, but I assume an organization like your has it's share of resources."

"You are well informed as well I see." Lindy sat down gracefully. "I didn't believe a village as isolated as yours would have the capability to identify us."

"You thought us a backwater village with a few esoteric abilities." The old woman pointed out dryly. "It's a good image to cultivate if you wish to be left alone really."

Lindy shrugged. "I wouldn't have phrased it so indelicately."

"Of course you wouldn't," Cologne laughed. "So enough beating around the bush, what is the reason you searched for us?"

"Perhaps I just wished to speak?" Lindy inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I doubt that." Cologne puffed out a cloud of smoke and looked at the teal haired woman with a sardonic smirk on her face. "You haven't gotten as old as I have without a good idea of negotiations."

"Of course." Lindy got to her feet and took a step back. Glowing butterfly wings of light sprouted from her back, and she looked at the old woman with a steady gaze. Power wafted off her, and the very building itself trembled slightly. "This is your only warning. Another unprovoked attack will cause severe retaliation."

"Of course, of course." Cologne waved a hand, completely ignoring the waves of power flowing off the woman. "I would say the same, but I think we have an understanding about this."

"Very well then." The woman let the aura of power dissipate. "I will be watching." The woman turned to leave.

"You know." The old woman's voice made the teal haired woman turn. "When this is all over I want to see what you are capable of. It's been ages since an old woman like me has had a chance to let loose, and beating up on youngsters looses its appeal after the first century."

"I suppose I could arrange something. My name is Lindy Harlaown by the way."

"A pleasure, you can call me Elder Cologne."

* * *

"It's been surprisingly quiet since those Amazons attacked us." Ranma leaned back in his classroom seat and looked at the ceiling. "Do you have the med kit ready Fate?"

"Of course," Fate grinned as she replied. "Do you want me to call Chrono for backup?"

"Nah," the boy tossed a pencil up in the air and caught it. "No sense in calling him until the chaos happens and we can't handle it."

"You two are expecting something to happen aren't you?" Akane groaned and rested her head on the desk.

"I tell you that Samurai-sama is the strongest!" One of the boys declared in aloud voice, interrupting Fate and Ranma's conversation.

"No, Loli-chan is!" Another boy brandished a picture in front of him like a weapon.

"Humph, they are nothing compared to Fate-chan." A different boy than the first two crossed his arms in absolute certainty.

Fate blushed red as Ranma groaned out loud. "Your fan club is getting rowdy."

"Why are the boys here such perverts?" Akane cried out in despair.

"Just be glad they aren't begging us for pictures again." Ranma muttered and turned to glare at the loud mouthed boys, who immediately quieted down. "I was starting to wonder if they had been hit too many times to feel pain."

"They did seem to take an awfully long time to get the hint didn't they?" Fate placed a finger on her lips in recollection.

"Nearly everyone here has some sort of martial arts training." Akane picked her head off the desk and looked at Fate and Ranma. "The boy especially could all be considered high level martial artists in any other place."

The blonde girl blinked at that. "That is quite interesting actually."

"It does explain a lot." Ranma shrugged and began juggling several pencils. "Ignoring the insanity of our school, when the heck is that teacher going to let us leave?"

"It looks like he just did." Akane pointed out dryly as the rest of the class began to stream out of the door.

"It's Loli-chan!" A cry from outside made both Ranma and Fate groan.

"Hey, get away you perverts!" The responding yell and cries of pain were both very predictable.

Everyone still in the classroom went almost immediately to the windows to see what was going on. In the courtyard of the school was Vita, and several boys that she had knocked right on their backs. Strangely they almost all looked more pleased than in pain.

"Hey Vita!" Ranma called from the window. "Nice hits!"

"Get down here before I have to deal with more perverts." Vita called up, looking remarkably calm as she shouldered her hammer.

Picking up Fate in a bridal carry Ranma hopped out of the second story window with remarkable nonchalance. There were a few students who shrieked at the apparent suicide, but the rest of the school had seen the boy perform similar feats, so most people just shrugged and continued leaving the school. Behind the two Akane just ignored the commotion and left the classroom the normal way.

"So why is the midget coming here?" Ranma asked teasingly.

Vita bopped the boy on the head with little force, more annoyed than angry. "Idiot. I've got some free time, so I swung by to get a match in."

"High power or low power?" Fate asked curiously.

"Low power match, I need to work on my footwork." Vita shrugged and began to walk away. "I've been neglecting it."

"Heh." Ranma chuckled to himself as he followed the red haired girl. "You usually do air battles..." Left unsaid was that footwork was of minimal use in the air.

"It helps more than you would think in the air." Vita shrugged as she exited the school ground. "Me and Signum have a probable mission sometime soon that is going to be a bit more covert than we are used to. The world is fairly low tech so we need to keep our-selves low profile."

"That's rare." Fate commented softly.

"Some sort of Lost Logia is causing dimensional ripples. The egg heads are still examining the data, but we have a decent idea of where to look." Vita turned back to where Fate and Ranma were walking behind her. "Where do you want this?"

"If it's low power, the Tendo dojo is fine." Ranma replied with a small shrug. "If Akane thinks it's OK at least."

The girl in question blinked as she walked up to where the three were. She hadn't even realized she was being included in the conversation. "So long as it doesn't break the place like your other sparring sessions..."

"Don't worry," Vita nodded back at the girl as she spoke. "I'm not going to go all out."

The four walked in surprisingly comfortable silence to the dojo. Vita was an interesting enigma to Akane. She didn't act how young she looked, and the blue haired girl had been informed that the red-head was far older than she looked. All of Ranma's friends seemed to be much more than they seemed.

Ranma and Vita wasted no time when they got to the dojo, immediately getting into ready stances and going after each other. It was a study in hand to hand combat for Akane. Very quickly the girl found herself enthralled by the back and forth between the two. Unlike their high powered battles this style of battle was something that Akane could actually understand and comment on.

The two blurred back and forth across the hardwood floor, clashing and impacting with terrific force. Despite the ferocity there was the feeling of serenity from the two combatants. This was more a dance than combat. A swing here and a hit there, they moved with precision and a strange sort of zen.

"These fights are actually a lot of fun to watch." Fate commented softly from the spot where she was kneeling.

Akane nodded in reply. "You can actually tell how experienced Vita is by the way the two clash." Akane smiled softly as she watched. "I never really understood what it meant to see the skill of someone else fighting, but with these two it seems so easy."

The sound of a clicking camera made both girls turn to where Nabiki had crept up unnoticed. The brown haired girl just smirked at the two and took another picture.

Fate shrugged and turned back to the fight. "I want a copy."

"500 Yen." Nabiki shot back quickly.

Fate blinked and turned back to the brown haired girl. "Really, you are asking money for taking pictures of my friends?"

"A girl's gotta make a living somehow." Was the quick rejoinder.

"I think your father does that." Fate's eyes narrowed slightly. "If you wish to charge for taking pictures I won't stop you, but I wont pay for it either."

"Your loss." Nabiki turned back to the fight and picked up her camera.

"Hush, I'm watching this." Akane scolded lightly from her place at Fate's side.

Fate smiled at the blue haired girl and ignored Nabiki's picture taking. "Would you like to have a match after this?"

"Erk." Akane's eyes widened and her head swiveled to stare at the blond haired girl.

"Low power like them." Fate nodded in indication where Vita and Ranma were fighting. "I'm decent at sword styles, but I still need work."

"I think I could do that." Akane smiled at the girl. "Take it easy on me all right."

"I look forward to it." Fate smiled in reply.

* * *

-In another land and dimension-

* * *

This was a world on the edge of a major dimensional crossroads, a place where power flowed by and inundated the world. Unlike earth, who's average power was in the low D category, here the average power was low B. To place this in perspective, Mid-Childa was actually slightly lower on average, and it was a magic based society.

Such a world should have been rife with travelers and would most likely have been a hotbed for pirates and lawless elements. Instead, it was a war-torn world that repelled unwanted intrusions with savage fury. This protection was achieved by a single faction who's members were high S class summoner mages. They didn't have a name per-say, being more concerned with exploring the dimensions surrounding their own than any trivialities such as naming their nation. They were simply known as summoners. The greatest of these summoners were called High Summoners, and TSAB policy concerning them was hands off.

While the summoners were not a match for the full might of the TSAB, they did have enough power that it would be unwise to disturb them. Fortunately they were more explorers and scientists than any serious warmonger. Thus when their world started sending out ripples of power, the TSAB's first action was to contact the summoners who dwelt on the planet. Thus the nearest TSAB battleship was diverted to the area, and contact was established.

"I believe that we have located what was causing the dimensional cascade." High Summoner Gareth inclined his head as he spoke to the captain in charge of the TSAB detachment. "We have located an artifact that matches the description of a Lost Logia. You were correct in your assumption."

"All right then, I will have our team retrieve it." The captain sighed with relief. "We can cancel the covert mission."

"I do not believe that will be wise." Gareth shook his head and waved a ringed hand. A map of their world appeared and zoomed in. "The place we have narrowed it down to is in the desert area. The locals would see a large team as an invasion, and your team would either be massacred or never even see the people."

"I was under the impression that your people had the majority of the world at peace by now." The captain frowned as the image resolved itself into a fairly large desert area.

Gareth waved away the image. "Unfortunately that area is near impossible to police. They've never been properly peaceful, and recently they have been particularly aggressive. I could most probably survive an attack, but they would just fade away into the desert, and the dimensional ripples would just continue onward. We lack any sort of covert capability, so that covert mission will have to go through. At least they have a name and a location."

"All right then, give us what info you can, and I will have our team briefed." The captain frowned as he clicked a few buttons on a recording device.

"These people call themselves the Holy Union. For the past century or more they have dwelt in the deserts nearby our major settlements. Ever since the first High Summoner was ordained we have had to beat back continual raids and aggressive responses. About a decade ago we managed to secure a major victory, and have enjoyed peace until about six months ago." The High Summoner began in a practiced lecturing tone. "At that point they renewed aggression. We haven't had serious issues, since they are still recovered from their last defeat, but then the ripples started."

"And we came here to see what was going on." The TSAB captain continued.

"Correct. We searched for the source, and managed to find it. The Holy Union has begun to use what they call one of their 'Sacred Relics.' One of your Lost Loggia." Gareth conjured an image.

It showed a man with bone white skin, black hair, and a small sphere of light hovering behind him. At first glance it looked like a simple magical blast sphere, but on closer inspection it was more a miniature sun than anything that a mage could conjure.

"That is Justified Wrath." Gareth informed the captain. "He is something called a White-touched, and we believe he is the leader of the recent aggression. He would most likely recognize any of our agents, so we need you to go after him before his use of the Lost Loggia causes irreparable harm."

"All right, anything else we need to know?" The captain made sure his recorder had an image of the man.

"Quite frankly your people will be recognized as soon as they enter the village. We could replicate the body paint that their people use, but it would take far too long to have you understand their culture. I would suggest you have a small team find him, kill or disable him, and then grab the device." Gareth advised. "If you have more questions I can be available when you will."

"I will send this info to the proper people." The TSAB captain nodded at the High Summoner.

* * *

"So we go in, find the guy, and grab the device right?" Vita asked Signum as she flew behind the pink haired warrior.

"That's the gist of it. The faction that gave us the info suggested that we eliminate the possessor, but we are to use our own discretion." Signum glanced back at Vita as she spoke, sending the girl a pointed look. "This also doesn't mean we beat him into the ground at first sight."

"Nothing like flying in blind and bound." The red haired girl grumbled sullenly.

"I'm not fond of the mission information either, but it's a boon that we actually have a relatively precise area to search in." Signum made a gesture to land, and both knights floated gently down to the sandy desert that was this area.

"Yeah yeah." Vita took a deep breath and put on her professional face. "Let's hope they are as welcoming to outsiders as the briefing said it was."

Signum refrained from comment. The briefing had said that these particular natives would most likely be suspicious and wary, but not hostile. Considering the half the area was at war, this was actually the best case scenario. The knights were therefore going to go with as little magic as needed to to minimize the threat, which meant walking through what was turning out to be a very hot day in a desert area.

"All right, people that live here have to be insane, this heat is maddening." Vita panted as she crested a fairly large dune, and blinked at the look of the town. "Yeah, completely insane."

Signum blinked as well as she crested the hill, looking at the multicolored buildings. It looked like a cross between a circus and a shanty town. There was almost no evidence of any actual wood or stone buildings in it, just a variety of what looked like cloth tents with banners of brightly colored ribbons connecting the high points.

"This is going to be interesting." Was the only comment the pink haired knight said as she began to walk forward.

"Oh come on, it looks like it would blow over on the first storm." Vita chuckled as she chased after her partner. "The entire town looks like a circus!"

"Keep in mind our mission Vita." Signum tried to keep a straight face as she walked forward, and blinked again as she stepped on something that didn't feel like sand. "Very interesting."

"Huh?" The red haired knight walked to where Signum was standing and looked at the ground and then blinked. "Is that a magic circle?"

"It's like an dimensional barrier." Signum spoke quietly as she knelt down and looked closer. It was a fairly stark divide now that she was able to look at it. It was like a divine weight had pressed the sand to stone in a total circle around the city. "Look, you can see the magic still active."

"That is a lot of magic required." Vita gulped and looked at the town. The cloth buildings didn't seem so ridiculous now. "They don't care about the weather, they just have a massive barrier keeping a storm out."

Signum nodded and got to her feet. "Keep on your guard."

"Don't have to tell me that." Was the swift reply.

Both knights fell silent as they approached the town. Up close the cloth buildings seemed actually fairly sturdy. Finding what looked like a major road, both Vita and Signum began to make their way to the center of the village. Their goal right now was an area of major traffic, or a place of authority.

It was an intensely uncomfortable feeling. The villagers were dressed in a variety of colorful clothing and styles, more for a way of decoration than any sense of practicality, so in this manner both Signum and Vita actually weren't that obvious. What really set them apart was the difference in skin tone. Everyone had either pure white, black, or a mix of the two in skin tone. This wasn't the tan tone of natural skin, but more like someone had died their skin. Most of it was white with black patterning, but there were a few people with the reverse.

"Don't stare!" A mother tugged on her child's hand. The child's pure white face pouted as she trailed after her mother.

_'Well, now I know why we will stand out.' _ Vita sent to Signum sarcastically as the people began to circle both knights, causing them to tense and stop.

The general feel of the crowd felt more curious than threatening, but the women were still surrounded by people. There were a few mutters from the onlookers, but strangely no one was stepping forward or even leading the half mob that had formed. Then something stepped out from the crowd.

It was a strange animal, pure white, shaped as a panther, with ears like a rabbit, two waving tails, and a red gem like formation on it's forehead. It approached both knights with almost nonchalant ease, acting much like a cat identifying a new toy. Both knights tensed as it sniffed at them, and then sneezed. Like that the tension was broken and the crowd dispersed.

"What the hell?" Vita muttered as the cat thing nudged at her hand.

"I have no idea." Signum replied as she looked at the people around them. Most of them seemed to be content to ignore both knights now.

"The sun-kissed likes you." A voice from behind makes both knights jump. "Consider it the spirit of the village. If it hadn't liked you it would have blown you out of the area."

"Where did you come from?" Vita turned quickly. She had felt nothing from behind her.

"Vita." Signum's voice interrupted anything else the red-head might have done. "And you are?"

"Shadowed Desire." The speaker was a woman dressed in a fairly provocative outfit barely covering her top. Her body was almost pure white, with the only black trailing down her cheeks and neck to twine around her torso and lower. Everything about her appearance seemed to exclude sexuality. "We don't get many strangers around here, so I figured I would keep you from treading on any toes. As well as make sure your stay is pleasurable." The last part was purred with a warm smile.

Signum kept Vita from saying anything by smiling at the woman and inclining her head. "That is most generous of you, but we are actually not planning on staying long."

"Ohh." Desire pouted at the two. "Such a shame, your companion seems rather young, but you are both such lovely women it feels sinful to have your stay be incomplete." The sun-kissed nudged Vita from behind and Desire giggled. "You might want to give him a scratch. That one is always wants attention from newcomers."

"Yeah." Vita scooted away from the woman and scratched at the creature, which made an oddly musical purr.

"Sadly we must decline your services." Signum nodded at Desire and turned to go, she was therefore surprised to find the woman in front of her, and far closer than she had been before.

"I'm afraid you are misunderstanding." The woman smiled at the knight. "Trust me on this, I'm the best bet you have of having a good time here. All strangers have to have a guide, it's either me or someone a bit less cooperative."

"Look, all we need to do is speak with someone named Justified Wrath." Vita growled at the woman.

"Oh! That's easy." Desire pointed in off in a direction. "Go that way until you see a stone and crystal valley. He's been there for the past few days, and isn't going to move anytime soon." The woman shrugged. "It's a bit of a walk, but that's the whole reason the village is here, so if you follow the main road you should be fine."

_'That's too easy.'_ Vita sent to Signum, frowning as the sun-kissed nudged her again for not scratching.

"Forgive me for being suspicious, but how do you know this?" Signum gave Desire a look.

The woman laughed richly. "Oh, he's rather famous, or is it infamous." The woman placed a hand on her lips in thought. "Either way, he's the current war leader for our nation. Everyone here knows exactly where he is. He's doing some sort of ritual, and that place is the best focus for near any high level spell casting."

"All right then, than you for you assistance." Signum gave the woman a quick bow and began to walk away.

Vita stopped scratching the sun-kissed and quickly trotted after her partner. Taking a glance back at Shadowed Desire as she did so. The woman just waved happily and patted the creature next to her with a wide smile.

"Poor dears." The woman sighed and walked to a place in the shade. "Wrath already knows what you want, and now only needs to know how far you are willing to go."

Around the woman the shadows began to darken and swirl, and then, she was gone from sight. Behind her the sun-kissed sneezed and began to trot off.

* * *

_So here is another chapter for people that enjoy my work. C&C welcome._


	11. Chapter 11

The valley was easy to spot, a massive jutting series of rocks that dominated the landscape for miles. It was like a series of teeth from some massive creature. Here and there at the base of each stone tooth was a series of large crystals, each the size of a man. Strangely all of it seemed to be cultivated, the teeth were arranged in a rough circle around what looked like a stone valley. The whole area reeked of magic and power. If Signum and Vita had any doubts of the power of these people they would have been dispelled by the scope of the dedication to create and maintain a site like this.

_'This whole area feels like a trap.' _Vita grimaced as she projected to Signum. _'If I didn't know any better I would say they were expecting us.'_

_'They shouldn't. The TSAB was discrete in our deployment.' _Signum scanned the area as she replied._ 'Even if they know someone is coming they haven't seen us in action so we should be able to retreat if we are in a disadvantageous position.'_

In the center of the valley sat one figure, male. Sitting on the ground with his legs crossed the man looked to be either meditating or performing some arcane ritual. Black hair swept back into a rough ponytail, the man was bare chested, showing off an elaborately twining black pattern that flowed across his entire body. As the knights approached he opened his eyes and looked at them both, they were pure white and seemed to glint in the sun.

"Justified Wrath I presume." Signum raised an eyebrow as she scanned the area around them again. She was getting nervous, there should have been a guard of some sort if he had half the importance that he had been reputed to have.

The man inclined his head at both knights. Uncrossing his legs the man gripped a small sphere that he had been holding in his lap, setting it to the side. "What might I do for you?"

"We have been informed that you have activated a dangerous object." Signum attempted to phrase her request diplomatically as possible. "You might not have noticed anything peculiar, but it has been sending out a series of waves that hint that it will cause some serious damage in the near future. We would like to have the device contained before it comes to that."

"Really now." Wrath's lip twitched into a humorless smirk as he looked at both knights. "And when did this start?"

"Several months ago." Signum replied.

Behind her Vita twitched and moved behind her fellow knight, something was seriously wrong. Every sense that she had developed over the years was telling her that something was off. She just couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Ah." Wrath nodded and got to his feet. "Then I am afraid you have the wrong person, I have not activated anything that could do enough damage to call travelers from so far away."

Both knights twitched at that. This entire scenario was wrong. Signum took a step back, getting ready. "Let me be blunt, I have been ordered to retrieve the object that looks like a miniature sun. As unfortunate as it is we cannot take you at your word."

Wrath chuckled at both knights, placing his hands behind his back. He gave both knights a look. "You mean this?" The sphere that he had set to the side rose up into the air and began to radiate light. "This one of our most sacred artifacts. We could no more give this up than you could give up an arm."

"That is disappointing." Signum summoned her sword and got ready. Behind her Vita called her hammer.

"For you maybe." Wrath inclined his head at both knights. "For me, this plays right into expected parameters."

Signum's eyes widened and she lunged forward, only to be stopped as a massive blast of heat and light erupted from the sun sphere. For a brief second she was blinded, and then sand began to swirl around the entire area.

"Damnit!" Vita growled out. "That little bastard set this all up." The tiny red head invoked a small barrier to keep the sand out of her eyes as the sandstorm began to pick up.

"We can track him down." Signum wiped her eyes clear and looked around again.

"You won't have to do that." Wrath's voice made both women look around. The sandstorm was making it impossible to locate where he was talking from. "The goal of this exercise is not escape."

Finely honed battle instinct made both knights instinctively throw up barriers, just barely blocking the impact from above and to the side. The sandstorm began to die down and the attackers forms resolved into two armor clad figures, one white, one black. The black carried a sword and shield while the white one had a spear. Of Wrath there was no sign.

"Tch." Vita spat out and charged at the one with the shield, Signum quick behind her targeting the one with the spear.

The Black Knight hissed almost animal like as Vita's hammer impacted into it's shield. Quick as a snake it's sword lashed out, glancing off Vita's barrier and leaving a trail of black. Shrugging off the ineffectual attack the red head continued to lash out, every strike impacting the shield with titanic force. Every hit impacted with a loud clack, driving the Black Knight back a step, while the counter attacks it was performing seemed to just glance off the tiny girl's barrier.

With a yell Vita drove her hammer forward again, and finally cracked through the shield, shattering it to pieces and breaking the arm behind. The Black Knight screamed in agony and Vita's next strike shattered its breastplate. The helmet of the knight fell off in pieces, revealing a white painted woman. With a demonic growl the woman's eyes glowed red and she stabbed forward, the sword snaking around Vita's defense and this time biting into skin of Vita's arm.

The black trails that the blade had left snapped around the redhead, whirling and then seeming to drain into the sword. The Black Knight snapped the blade back, and with a shimmer of black her armor reformed.

Vita gasped at the slight pain and growled right back at her opponent. That hit had done far more than just heal her opponent, it had drained a portion of her own magic.

Signum's opponent was different than the Black Knight. Where the black one was more defensive, the white one was more offensive, dancing around with his spear, just barely ahead of the pink haired warriors strikes.

Fortunately he was not nearly as skilled as Signum, and she was slowly wearing her opponent down. Her sword lashed out and the White Knight was forced to block. At that he was unable to continue to dodge, and was forced back. Finally with a grunt the man invoked the first magical spell in his fight against Signum.

White wings erupted from his back and feathers swirled around his body. Signum, not particular impressed sped around the man, avoiding the feathers and striking forward. With a twist the man slid around the strike, and much like he was dancing twirled his spear around, whirling the feathers and directing them to the ground where they impacting much like tiny spears.

"Too slow." Signum stated as she appeared behind the man, slamming the hilt of her weapon into the back of his head. "Stand down."

The man collapsed to the ground, and almost immediately after the Black Knight was sent flying in his general direction by a furious Vita.

"Damn that was harder than it should have been." Vita growled out.

"They do practice a rather unusual style." Signum replied with a frown noting that a few of the feathers had scratched her. "Let's see if Wrath is still around."

"Over here." Both knights blinked and looked to where Wrath was nonchalantly sitting in the very place he had started. "Here I was thinking that they would be able to at least delay you twice as long." The man chuckled.

"Where is the Lost Loggia." Signum frowned at the man. "We are done negotiating."

"Eh," Wrath waved his hand as he replied. "That particular event was just the warm up." The man smiled widely. "Or more accurately, that event was all to give me an idea of how strong you are."

At that the sun went out. Or more accurately as Vita and Signum looked up to discover the Lost Loggia was absorbing all the light and focusing it to one point. Both Knights eye's widened and they dodged to the side as a massive column of light impacted in their former position, glassing the ground in a horrific display of heat.

"Signum!" Vita turned to look at the pink haired knight with a worried expression.

Behind the woman a single solitary figure had driven her sword down into the Knight's shadow, and looked to be concentrating fiercely. Signum herself seemed to be attempting to move to the best of her ability, but couldn't, every muscle was locked into place.

"Just stay still a moment dear." Shadowed Desire smiled at the pink haired knight.

"You!" Vita growled out and attempted to attack the new opponent, only to be blocked by the two knights she and Signum had recently defeated.

"I do believe this is my win." Wrath smiled warmly as above him the sky began to darken again. "Now I would suggest you surrender. Your partner is unable to dodge this next strike, and it's quite a bit stronger than the first one."

"You will hit your own man with that." Vita growled out.

"Unfortunate." Justified Wrath walked to where Signum was standing, locked into place. "Desire, are you willing to sacrifice yourself if it comes to that?"

The woman laughed richly. "For you, half our army would die, do you need to ask?"

"Thank you." Wrath turned to Vita. "Your word that you will surrender yourself to us, and neither of you die, and we will treat you as honored guests. Failure to give that word results in the death of one of you and the conversion of the other." The man was no longer smiling, and his voice had gone cold. "We would have you betray everything, pervert you to our goals and ideals, rip apart your very identity. We are not kind to our enemies."

Vita growled at Wrath and began to get ready to charge. Around Signum a circle of light began to trace itself. With a savage scream Vita threw down her hammer. "Fine, my word!"

"Thank you." Wrath's eyes glowed and his voice reverberated. "We will accept your word as given. You shall be our honored guests until your mission is completed."

"What?" Vita blinked at the man.

"I was truthful in saying that we had not activated something as dangerous as you are implying in the past few months." Wrath waved Desire off, and Signum dropped to the ground in relief. "Believe it or not we are just as interested in what is causing this as you are."

With a growl Signum gripped her sword and charged forward, holding the weapon under Wrath's neck. "This ends now."

"Yes." The man began to smile. "Tell me, are you from the same organization?"

"We are the Wolkenritter." Signum stated as she continued to hold the sword. "And we must respectfully decline your offer of hospitality."

"But your friend gave her word." Was the immediate reply. "You should all honor her word shouldn't you?"

Signum blinked as several white transparent chains began to surround her arms. "What in the world?"

"Those who give their words to a White-touched are held to that word." Wrath smiled. "Consider it a contract. Vita surrendered to me in exchange for you life. I set the terms of the surrender. I hope you enjoy your stay."

* * *

"School is so boring!" Ranma groaned out as he Fate and Akane walked out of the building.

"It might actually pass a little bit faster if you would pay attention." Fate commented softly.

"Listen to those blowhards?" The teen looked at Fate with a deliberately clueless expression. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Maybe so you could actually pass the class?" Akane grumbled in general irritation. "I swear you have the attention span of a gnat."

"Hehe." Fate giggled at the comment. "That fits him pretty well actually."

Ranma stuck his tongue out at both girls. "Oh sure, gang up on me why don't ya."

"You know I love you." Fate smiled at the boy warmly.

Akane's eyebrow twitched. "You know he's supposed to be engaged to me, you saying that in public really doesn't help that much."

"Huh?" The blonde haired girl looked honestly confused before her expression cleared. "Oh! You think I meant that romantically." She shrugged and continued walking towards the Tendo home with the other two. "Ranma and Nanoha are my closest friends. We would do anything for each other. Romance has nothing to do with that relationship."

"Unless you hear Nanoha in her mischievous mood." Ranma snorted at the thought. "That girl has half the TSAB believing we are in some torrid threesome with Hayate and her knights on the side."

"What?" Akane asked flatly.

"She has a bit of a perverted streak in her." Fate blushed slightly as the three finally arrived at the Tendo home. "Just take everything she says about what we do with a grain of salt."

"More like a spoonfull." Ranma muttered as he opened up the door. "Chrono?" The boy blinked at the man sitting at the table. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Ranma." The man nodded respectfully at the teen and smiled at Fate. "Hello little sister."

"Hello big brother." Fate nodded at the man. "What brings you here?"

"I actually needed to speak with Ranma about something." Chrono replied and got to his feet. "If there is a place where we can get some privacy?"

"Sure, the dojo is usually fairly discrete." Ranma shrugged and gestured for Chrono to follow.

"Hmm." Fate frowned slightly as the two males walked out of the room. To her side Akane tilted her head at the girl unfamiliar with Fate looking so serious.

"So what's up?" Ranma turned to face Chrono once there were in the dojo.

"One moment." Chrono made an arcane gesture and a circle expanded around the two. "This is a rather discrete matter that I thought you might be able to help with. All my official channels would either take too long or would not be able to get the job done reliably."

"Why me then?" The teen leaned against a wall nonchalantly.

"You are reasonably discrete, and if we are lucky you could get in and out without anyone official noting what is going on." Chrono sighed and placed his hands behind his back. "I don't make this request lightly, but this is going to be completely off the records."

"Enough beating around the bush man." Ranma rolled his eyes at the officer. "I know you wouldn't be asking if it weren't important."

"Several days ago we sent out Signum and Vita to retrieve a Lost Loggia. We had been getting dimensional ripples from the area in question that have only gotten worse." Chrono frowned as he looked out a window. "If left unchecked we anticipate casualties across something like three to four adjacent dimensions, possibly more. Signum and Vita just reported back that they have been captured and are unable to complete their mission."

"Why me then?" Ranma pushed off the wall and looked at Chrono with a serious expression.

"Hayate and Nanoha could go," Chrono began ticking off reasons. "They however would be either use too much force in the wrong area or get captured like Signum and Vita. I could flood the area with TSAB marines, but they would most likely be killed. We have a few special operatives, but they are all on missions, and if I were to call them in we would most likely not make it time. What we need is someone who can get in and out, and most importantly identify and stop the problem."

Ranma just shrugged at the list convinced at the reasoning. "All right then, where were they going and what info did they have?"

"They were deployed to a desert area on an non-administered world, following the trail of a man named Justified Wrath." Was the reply.

"Aww hell." Ranma rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Dammit, it had to be him didn't it?" He asked himself rhetorically.

"You know him?" Chrono was startled.

"Yeah, met him on my training trip." Ranma sighed and closed his eyes. "The man's not the best fighter in the world, but he could plan like you wouldn't believe, and the people there have some pretty exotic techniques that make it near impossible to surprise them." With a sigh the teen began to pace. "I'm gonna need something sneaky if I'm gonna have any chance, he's seen me fight so he could keep me occupied more than long enough to make damn sure I fail."

The blue haired man tilted his head at the teen in curiosity. "I don't think I have seen anyone out think you on the battle field."

"Direct combat sure I could beat him no problem." Ranma snorted. "The man is really good at tactics and planning. I mean really good, give him a person or tactic and he can pick it apart in seconds. Not too good on the physical front though." The teen frowned in thought. "I would use my curse to try and sneak in, but the damned Black-touched would spot that in a second."

"Really?" Chrono looked at the teen. "We didn't have any information on the capabilities of the people there, you are implying that they have some significant ones?"

"Nothing as powerful as we have, but they do have some exotic ones." Ranma replied absentmindedly. "Four types of them, Black-touched, White-touched, Heaven Knight, Hell Knight. White-touched you get in close and smash them quick, Black-touched you dodge the first shot and counter, Heaven Knights you pound quickly and keep pounding them, and Hell Knights you play keep away. They all have some exotic talent, and Black-touched can spot lies and disguises a mile off." The boy perked up as an idea struck him. "Hey Chrono, could you dial Yuuno?"

"Of course." The man pulled out his device and fiddled with it a moment. "Yuuno, it's Chrono and Ranma, we have something we need to speak with you about."

"Umm, of course." The reply was tentative.

"Yo Yuuno, you said your ferret form was a totem like thing wasn't it?" Ranma questioned abruptly.

"Yes, it requires a series of rituals and meditations before it's possible to achieve the alternate form, but it is essentially a totem animal." The reply was clinical and almost rehearsed. "It's why I'm able to recover faster in it, and also why it doesn't use any magic to maintain, it's like I actually am a ferret, albeit a magical one."

"Cool, then you're coming with me on a trip." Ranma smirked evilly. "Pack what you need."

"Wait, what?" Yuuno's voice became panicked.

"All inform you of the details in a moment." Chrono interjected with a raised eyebrow at Ranma. With a click he flicked off the device. "Are you sure about including him?"

"Eh, I need the backup, and besides the poor guy really needs to get away from the library every now and again." Ranma chuckled. "This is gonna be fun."

* * *

"Whew, I forgot how hot it was here." The teen shaded his eyes and looked up at the sun warily. "About midday, and I managed to hit a decent spot on the port in, so we should get there with plenty of time to spare."

Yuuno sneezed from his place on Ranma's shoulder. "Why do I have to be in ferret form for this again?"

"Mostly 'cause Wrath will think you at best a familiar and not an independent being." Ranma replied absentmindedly as he began to walk to the town. "He will still know something is up with you, but if you go with the familiar he won't calculate you as an independent person."

"I don't think I have ever seen you take so much preparation when fighting before." The ferret commented.

"I usually don't need it." The teen sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "One sec."

"Huh?" Yuuno felt a small amount of magic shifting in Ranma's form. "What is going on?"

"Just a cooling technique, it's something the natives do here. It's not as easy when you haven't used their skin dye, but it works pretty well." Ranma sighed in relief as the desert heat stopped affecting him so much. "There's an eye technique too, but that one takes a lot of practice." The teen grimaced a bit. "I haven't gotten to the point where I can do it constantly, and its more for night fighting or glare than anything else so I haven't needed it."

"Interesting." Yuuno blinked as they got into viewing range of the city. "Very high magic society adapted to desert conditions. They don't seem to have much access to wood or stone looking at the building structures."

"I don't know the exacts, but they are bordered by sea and mountains, and the sea conditions are nasty so they are really cut off from outside." Ranma spoke quietly as he walked. "When we get there just stay nearby me, they should know me so I won't make nearly as big a splash as Vita and Signum did." The teen grimaced as he reached the border of the city. "This is all Wrath's territory, so if we get into a fight it's going to be me fleeing. Whatever you do, don't agree to any oaths or promises unless you plan on keeping them."

"All right then." Yuuno took as deep a breath as his ferret body would allow. "Anything else?"

"Ehm, try not to be shocked?" Ranma shrugged.

Yuuno sighed loudly. "Joy."

The two slipped into the town with surprisingly little fanfare, Ranma keeping to the back alleys and out of sight for the most part. The people there were surprisingly sparse and the ones that did look around missed Ranma. To Yuuno the path seemed random and wandering, but apparently the pigtailed teen was looking for something. Eventually the two stopped at what looked like one of the only stone buildings in the entire area. It was hidden among the tents, squat and discrete.

"What's this?" Yuuno questioned the obvious change in architecture. Nearly every other building was cloth with wood.

"It's a shadow temple." Ranma looked around a moment and began to walk right up to the place, abandoning all attempts at stealth. "These guys have everything split into two sides, night and day, light and dark, all that jazz. There is a light temple at the opposite side of town, but in smaller places the temples are together."

"And why are we here?" Yuuno kept an eye out.

"If I am lucky..." Ranma trailed off and smiled as he walked into the temple. "Ok, be quiet and you will see."

The place was near pitch black, and Yuuno struggled to make out anything. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but the ferret was able to slowly make out what looked like several rooms and side rooms. It looked more like a bunker than an actual temple. Only when they reached what was the end of a hallway did anything close to religious appear. The end of the hall opened up into a fairly large probably subterranean room.

It was a square room with several dozen benches presumably for prayer. In front of the room in total darkness was what looked to be a sculpture of wings. One side was feathered with exactly seven wings that glittered in what little light there was, while the other side was bone, with exactly six bone pinions, that seemed to eat what little light there was.

Ranma didn't pause to admire the scenery. He moved forward with purpose and though Yuuno heard nothing he saw the teen stiffen in triumph. The ferret looked closer and realized that there was someone sleeping on one of the benches. With one swift movement the teen grabbed the person and moved impossibly fast. There was a muffled scream of surprise, but the two infiltrators managed to get into one of the side rooms before any sound of alarm.

With a savage movement Ranma slammed the person into the wall and barked out an order to Yuuno. "I need you to get as bright a light as possible, quickly."

"Right!" Yuuno put off any queasiness he might have had at Ranma's conduct to the back of his head and quickly ran off a small spell to light up the entire side room. The ferret was surprised to note that the light seemed to bend away from the person Ranma had pinned, that is until the teen pulled back and slammed the person into the wall again, breaking whatever spell had been doing the strange affect.

"Pride?" The woman gasped as she looked at Ranma with a surprised expression.

Ranma chuckled slightly. "Hey Desire." He let his captive go and took a step back, crossing his arms. "Don't tell me you're surprised."

"Wrath didn't exactly plan for you." The woman rubbed the place where the boy had been gripping her. "But he did expect a rescue party." Even rumpled from sleep she was beautiful, sensual beyond near anything Yuuno had seen before.

"Yeah yeah, he's good at shit like that." Ranma grinned slightly. "I'm not nearly as good, but I know him enough to get an idea of how he thinks of things. So shall we get down to business?"

"Interrogate a Black-touched?" Desire sensuously arced her body in a way that had Yuuno staring. "Really my boy, did our lessons teach you nothing? Did you forget my patron?"

The teen was unaffected and in fact just rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "I should have looked for your sister instead." With a huff he continued looking Desire in the eye. "I got here without being spotted, I'm willing to break Wrath to pieces, and I have a trump card if necessary. You know these are not lies. Give me the info."

"Oh my." The woman looked at Ranma with a serious expression. "You have gotten good at this. Find their weak point and exploit it without mercy. If you had been born with us you would have been a marvelous addition indeed."

"Info," Ranma snapped out. "Yuuno, keep the light up."

"Huh?" The ferret shook his head. Somehow the light had been slowly dimming as the two had been talking. He brightened it back up to full power. "Sorry."

"Wrath has contract bound the two false-steel knights." Desire sighed out with a pout. "He wanted to capture the next party that attempted to rescue them and then negotiate something, but with you here that plan isn't going to work most likely. If you want the two rescued you will have to have him release them, none of us would even think of breaking his binds."

"Damn!" The teen growled out as he grit his teeth and slammed his fist into the wall next to Desire's head, more out of frustration than any desire to scare the woman. He took a deep breath and glared at her. "What was the wording?"

"How would I know? I just fought the women, I didn't hear what he said to them." Desire shrugged in indifference. "Really Pride, even if I said it you wouldn't be able to tell if I spoke truth or lies."

"Really, really, should have looked for your sister instead." Ranma rubbed at his forehead and took a step back. "At least Joy wouldn't have been able lie with a straight face."

"You could go out and look for her." Desire giggled. "I think she got into a drinking contest with one of the false-steel knights and is passed out next to the red haired one."

"Huh?" That threw Ranma for a loop the boy looked at Yuuno who looked totally lost and then back to Desire. "Wrath's not nearly nice enough to let prisoners go free." With a frown the boy walked over to where Yuuno was standing and picked up the ferret. "Tell him I'll meet him at the center of the town."

"Ranma, whats going on?" Yuuno spoke quietly as the walked out.

"If Wrath was treating them as enemies the two would be prisoners and Desire would have been taunting me about them." Ranma replied just as quietly. "But Wrath took the effort to contract bind them instead of imprisoning them. That means he's being nice."

"I don't know what this contract binding is, but maybe he couldn't hold them the normal way?" The ferret proposed.

"Nah." Ranma ignored the stares he was getting while he walked. "They have some pretty nasty ways of keeping people prisoners if they don't like them. If Wrath is being nice, then that means he's trying not to piss off the people behind Signum and Vita. That means that he knows something about why they came here and either needs their help or for them to stay out of the way."

"So he plans to blackmail the TSAB to not investigate the dimensional ripples?" Yuuno asked incredulously. "They would send an entire platoon if they continue to happen, that's one step away from a full blow cataclysm to their neighbors."

"I want to say that Wrath wouldn't do that." Ranma grimaced as he replied. "But he would if it was necessary. The thing is, he wouldn't risk something like that with just a few hostages." The teen growled and hit his head a few times. "I hate trying to think like him, it's like trying to map out an entire chess game knowing only the opening move."

"I don't know him myself." Yuuno sighed out as they walked. "But I trust you know what you are doing Ranma."

The martial artist snorted in reply. "If all else fails I beat him up, and take him hostage instead. That will piss them off enough to get answers."

"I'm doomed."

* * *

"Oooh my head." Vita groaned as she leaned against Signum wearily.

Signum tried not to feel irritated, she tried. Instead she took a step away from the red-head and watched the tiny woman fall to the ground in a heap. "Suffer for your overindulgence."

Wrath just snickered quietly and sat down cross legged. "First time with a hangover?"

"You shut up." Vita sat up and pointed unsteadily at Wrath. The sudden motion made her wince. "It's your minion's fault that I am like this."

"Well, I suppose I could ease the pain if you want." The man shrugged slightly and looked off into the distance. "I know one or two healing spells that ease things like that."

"I would rather you not expose us to any more unfamiliar magic." Signum glared at Wrath. "Bad enough last night happened."

"Suit yourself." The man made a gesture and his glowing sphere appeared behind him. "Now when is he going to show himself."

"Why did you have us come here again?" Vita held her head and just glared at the world.

"Ah," Wrath replied as he spotted who he needed to see. "There he is."

"Yo." With a swirl of sand Ranma dropped right down in front of Wrath. "I think that you have some explaining to do."

"Ranma!" Both Vita and Signum's eyes locked on the pig-tailed teen.

"I suppose so." Wrath shrugged. "What do you need to know?"

The boy twitched and looked around again. "All right, what the hell is going on? I at least expected Joy to be here, instead you are in the center of the city without anyone guarding you from three angry powerful people."

Both Vita and Signum looked confused at Ranma's casual knowledge of the circumstances. Wrath simply smiled and had his sun-sphere begin a casual rotation around the four people. "It was the best way to keep you from being hostile. If I'm in a deliberately disadvantages position it's obviously a trap, isn't that what you would think?"

"Quit with the guessing games." The teen replied casually, making sure to keep the sun-sphere at his back. "What is your game? Did you place them under your control?"

"That takes time, and more importantly would be considered an act of war." Wrath looked from Ranma to the girls as he spoke. "Hardly the actions of one trying to keep a misunderstanding from escalating."

"Ok, what's the misunderstanding?" The teen crouched down to look the still sitting Wrath in the eye.

"That it's our sacred artifacts causing the disturbance." Was the reply.

Ranma let out a long breath. "What proof do you have of that? Lost Loggia can be very obscure in their function."

"Hmm." Wrath called back his device and made a few gestures around the perimeter. "The reason we consider this artifact one of our most sacred artifacts is it's capability. It's not the light powers I have been using with it actually, that's just a minor function. It's real function is viewing another area based on a question."

A place appeared in the sphere. It was a wide open stone room with a circle of runes inscribed on the ground. A map appeared to be drawn on the center of the circle. The room was deserted aside from the circle.

Wrath frowned at the image. "Unfortunately I have no idea where that circle is, or what exactly this device does. Every other questing I can think of either gives static or something even more obscure."

"That's spectacularly unhelpful." Ranma frowned at the image. "I think I recognize some movement sigil, but all that really proves is that there is a magic circle somewhere."

"Just figure out a way to undo this damned spell and let me hit him," Vita growled out. "That would at least make me feel better."

Ranma snickered, and jumped in surprise as Yuuno finally spoke up. "That doesn't look like the same architecture that you use here." The ferret moved forward a bit to get a closer look. "In fact, I recognize some of that style as the local summoning technique. Guessing on the spell pattern and the map in the center it is a reverse summoning of some sort, focused on an area. Could you zoom closer on the circle so that I can read it?"

Obligingly Wrath focused on the requested area. He showed no real surprise that the ferret was talking. "That good?"

"Yes, move it around slowly please?" Yuuno squinted as he read, and then began to mumble to himself. "That's a lot of magic required. There is some sort of barrier involved as well. Hmm." Finally the ferret perked up and nodded to himself. "Ok, that spell is designed to dimensional shift a large mass of land..." He trailed off and looked at the vision again. "That's insane, it would cause half the neighboring dimensions to warp from the movement!"

"What?" Both Signum and Vita suddenly looked very attentive and moved so that they could see into where the sphere was.

"Yes!" Yuuno finally just shook his head. "I can guess what the intended spell would do, but they are miscalculating two or three factors. That spell is designed to shift this entire nation away. It's a bad idea in the first place just for the environmental factors here, but it would also rip apart at least two other dimensions, probably more."

"That is a very interesting piece of information." Wrath sighed and dispelled the image. "We knew something was going on in that area, but I had no idea the result would be that disastrous."

"You knew about this?" Ranma gawked at Wrath for a moment before getting angry. "What the hell did you have planned to deal with it."

"Don't worry about that plan." The man waved his hand. "With this new info I have to redo everything." With a frown he looked up at the sky. "I think a quick strike would be best. It will take me at least a day, probably more to isolate where the circle is. It's not going to be active for at least a month by our sources, but considering the danger of that spell I think it would be best to destroy the thing as soon as possible."

"And how do you know about all this?" Signum looked at Wrath with a serious expression.

"We have had near full intelligence from The Summoners for the past year," was the quick reply. "To be honest I planned to deal with this spell by sabotage and then use that resulting failure to break their resistance and end the war."

Ranma snorted in reply. "I swear it's terrifying what you have been up to Wrath."

"In light of this information I assume your assistance is being offered?" The man looked from Signum to Ranma.

"Sure." Ranma spoke as Yuuno nodded in agreement.

"Very well." Signum nodded as well. "Since it seems our initial assumption was in error. My apologies." She grit out he last part.

Wrath shrugged and waved his hand. "Mistakes happen. The contract with you both will now be removed per the issue's request." With those words a sound like clanking chains came from both women.

With an evil grin Vita move to where Wrath was and hit him in the back of the head hard enough to knock him forward. With a loud sigh of satisfaction she turned around and began to walk off. "I feel so much better now. Good night."

"Ow."

Ranma, Signum, and Yuuno just sighed in exasperation.

* * *

"All right, what is it you need now?" Vita growled out as she glared at Wrath with a rather irritated expression. "You know I don't like you, and Signum probably isn't that fond of you either."

"Hmm," Wrath hummed slightly to himself as he looked the two knights over with a critical eye. "You probably don't know this particular tradition of ours, so I'll explain while Ranma speaks with that intriguing ferret-boy of his about this."

"Get to the point." Signum stated flatly. "We already know about the way your people act at night." The pink haired knight couldn't help but glance at Vita as she said this.

The sun was started to set in multicolored hues, and it was the time where modern day people began to slow down and turn in. However, that was in societies where people didn't have access to a safe and easy way of seeing in the dark. Like a modern city this town never quite went quiet, and in many ways it got even more active. Both Vita and Signum were used to the modern cities, so this particular quirk was easy to get over. It was the utter change in atmosphere that really surprised them. The entire society seemed to live at the extremes. Disciplined and restrained at day, uninhibited and wild at night.

"Tonight's going to be a bit different." The man smiled as warmly as he was able. "We have a serious battle coming up, so tonight is a night of reflection and conversation. There won't be any unnatural lighting sources, and there are actually rules that we have to follow."

"Really?" Vita snorted slightly and crossed her arms. "So what are you talking to us about? You should be warning half your people not to hit on me instead of speaking to us."

Signum sighed as she held the bridge of her nose. "Be glad that he was serious about honored guests, otherwise you would have probably had been thrown out."

Wrath coughed slightly. "Actually, there is a subset of black-touched who find her actions very arousing, and I have been actively trying to keep them away so as not to make you totally uncomfortable."

"Erk!" Vita scooted away from Wrath with a disturbed expression.

"Really, the more I see your reactions the more I realize how incredibly chained you are." Wrath shrugged absentmindedly. "It's interesting but it makes great weak points for a Black-touched to rip into if need be."

"And the more I hear about your mages the more disturbed I am." Signum took a deep breath. "Back to the point please?"

Shrugging the native dropped the topic. He could spend hour speaking of the various disciplines that went into each division of their mage classes. Ultimately if they wanted to think of the Black-touched as a representative of their entire cadre that was up to them. The truth was far different of course, but explaining that took time and an open mind.

"Of course. The reason I called you here is because nights like this have a few ceremonial traditions that should be honored." Wrath pulled out two small packages. "Inside each of these bags are several magic brushes and a few trinkets. Use the white ones as base and then paint with the black one. The white represents purity and the black represents sin. What pattern you use is up to you."

"Umm." Vita took the package gingerly. "Why do we have to do this? Can't we just stay inside and avoid making a scene?" Signum looked like she agreed with the sentiment.

"Not possible." Wrath stated flatly. "Within the week I'm going to have to commit around half my forces with intent to attack win against the Summoner Nation. Best case scenario is around one in three deaths. Worst case is one in two. If I could go with my original plan it would be one in five." The man made a face and took a breath. "But I can't. We need to make sure that their doomsday circle doesn't go off."

Signum looked like she had been hit with a Divine Buster, and nearly dropped the package she had been given. "Excuse me?"

"We might not look it, but we have been at war for centuries." Wrath crossed his arms. "It started so long ago that the summoners don't even know why it started anymore. We know, but they consider us savages who have little idea of how the 'real world' works." He snorted at that reasoning and looked at the sky as he spoke. "They have all the advantages while we have to scrape by in this Herald-Forsaken desert."

"I thought you were going to have a quick raid and break the circle?" Vita finally blurted out.

Wrath blinked at the tiny red-head. "What would that do? They could just recreate it, or something worse. No, what we are going to do is go in, strike quickly, and while they are rallying to defend we leave and have the rest of my forces attack their cities and schools. They will then attempt to defend, and I will issue the order to have each and every High Summoner assassinated." The report was given in a clinical tone. "Without their support my forces will be able to force a surrender."

Signum dropped the package in shock and seemed to be ready to protest, but stopped as Wrath turned to her with a glare.

"You think it's horrifying. Especially that I would target non-combatants." Both Vita and Signum stopped to watch Wrath snarl in the first graphic display of emotion that they had seen. "I looked over their plans, their strategies for us. They hate us. They would destroy us without qualms. By all rights I should destroy them in return and laugh as they burn." The man visibly made himself stop. "But I am a White-touched, I made a promise to myself that I would be a good person. So I am going to offer mercy and make them part of us. I will take their hypocritical sneering self-righteous civilization and make them choke on it by being merciful, and kind."

"Ok." Vita didn't squeak, she would flatly deny it if anyone said that. "But that still doesn't explain why we have to go to this reflection tonight."

"You are going to be part of this event." Wrath looked at both knights. "This is our gift to you, because we are not gray, we are not indecisive, we do not straddle the line between good and evil. We are good and evil, we find our path, and we will do it no matter what the cost. To our enemies we show no mercy, but to our friends we give our own flesh if necessary." He smiled a trifle sadly. "We are white and black, but never gray." Wrath shook his head. "I'm getting maudlin. Inside both your packages is a necklace, it contains a special spell designed specifically for each of you. It's not part of the reflection, but it would please people greatly if you were to wear them."

"Why is it that every time we meet him I feel like we got outplayed?" Vita looked down at the package she had been given.

Signum just shook her head and knelt down to pick up hers. "Let's just get ready."

* * *

It was getting dark, and there were people quietly milling about the area. There was a small circular dais set into the center of the gathering, and around it were various tables and cushions placed in circles facing the dais. A black and fairly large Sun-kissed was wandering around the area, quietly sniffing at people and happily eating the many scraps she was given. Ranma, Yuuno, and Wrath were seated a small distance from the center, not in the best seats, but not in the worst either. Ranma was dressed in his usual stile, the only concession to the occasion he had was the elaborate black on white face paint he was wearing. Yuuno was in human form and dressed nicely, with his skin almost a pure white. Both boys had gotten advice from the Hell Knight Shattered Joy, who had taken great pleasure in doing up both of them.

"Ya know, I think this is the first time I have actually seen the knights actually act female." Ranma chuckled slightly to himself as he leaned back. "Women always take forever to get ready."

"I'm afraid that's another cultural difference that we have." Wrath commented softly as he waved off at someone in the distance. "For us, it's usually the ones touched that take forever to get ready." A woman came up with a fairly large table filled with several different items of food and drink. She set it down next to Wrath.

"The one's touched?" Yuuno asked curiously. "You mean the White-touched and Black-touched?"

"Correct." Wrath picked up a small bowl of food and set it next to him. "Ranma already knows this, but we train our people in one of four disciplines. Those with higher magical ability are called touched, and those with lower levels are trained in the martial disciplines."

"Wrath couldn't physically fight against a wet paper bag." Ranma chuckled slightly. "He's fit for a normal person, but his real strength is in his barrier skills."

"Huh." Yuuno made a sound of appreciation. "That's my specialty as well."

"Hmm." The man nodded at the teens. Beside him the black and fat sun-kissed walked up and daintily began to eat the food he had placed next to himself. "I wouldn't mind exchanging a few spells after this actually. Some of the higher levels ones have religious overtures though, and you have to be ordained in our religion, or have permission."

"I wonder if you would mind explaining the basics of it?" Yuuno asked politely. "Ranma is not really well informed about it."

"I would be glad to." Wrath patted the black sun-kissed as she finished eating and waddled off. "We are a people of division. Long ago we were two, one of shadows and one of light. The wars between these two factions were intense and brutal beyond your belief. Such a long time of battle, of death and destruction." The man paused and poured something hot from one of the liquid containers, handing a cup to both boys.

"As we fought we became weaker, more split and fanatic in our thinking. Finally the need for peace was realized. The question is, what sort of peace would we have? This was a war of ideology, not of land or of people. Was shadow stronger or light?" Wrath chuckled at that. "It's a silly question nowadays, something we tell to children to get them to think. The answer is that neither is. So we celebrate both."

"At night we venerate the moon and stars and the black soothing rest. We venerate the darkness in our souls, the wanton abandon, the cruelty, the loss of life. We acknowledge these things, and some revel in it. But at day we put it all away." Wrath spread his hands out in display. "At day we take joy in life, in order, and in the world itself. Ultimately we worship life and death itself, and ask both heaven and hell to worship with us."

"Hell Knights are said to contract demons and Heaven Knight angels." Ranma murmured to Yuuno quietly. "They are actually devices that have been passed on and given appropriate names. They are really primitive, but they work pretty well."

Wrath chuckled at both boys. "That's our religion condensed. There is a lot more to that of course, but most important to us is passion and dedication. We don't mind disbelief, but being indecisive is probably one of the biggest things you can do to offend us."

"That is very interesting." Yuuno replied. "I suppose that is why you consider gray to be an insult?"

"Correct." Wrath nodded in reply and tilted his head. "Ah, there are the knights now-!"

Both boys jumped in surprise as a woman practically ran up to Wrath and slammed her fist into the back of his head. "You think this is funny don't you?" He face was an elaborate mix of white and black, beautiful, if violent looking. "A little warning would have been nice!" She snarled, and both boys noticed she had red hair.

"Vita?" Ranma got it first, spitting out the drink he had been sipping on. "What the hell!"

Vita straightened up to her full height, an impressive size now. It was like she had grown to eighteen overnight, tall and slim with a very noticeable bust line now. With the face-paint she was the near perfect goddess of war. "You got a problem with it?"

"No no!" Ranma waved his hands. "It suits you!"

"Ow." Wrath picked himself up off the floor. "My head is ringing."

"Explain, now." The red haired woman stated flatly.

"Your former forms make both Black-touched and White-touched rather nervous." The man rubbed his head and beneath his hand a soft white light flared briefly. "They aren't illusion, and they aren't truth either. The pendents I gave you actually make your form fully solid when it's night time. It's a sort of lie made truth."

"We make you nervous?" Vita blinked at Wrath, and blinked again. "Wait, we aren't lie or truth? What are you talking about."

"I couldn't tell you." Wrath nodded as Signum walked up behind Vita. The pink haired warrior was far more sedate, but still looked slightly disturbed. "All I know is that your normal forms are not fake, but they aren't quite real either. It's why your name is false-steel knights among the rest of the people here. Those necklaces make you stand out far less."

"I was wondering about that." Yuuno muttered softly. "They can sense the fact that you are constructs. I don't think I have ever heard of a spell that does it."

"Constructs?" Wrath tilted his head at the two suddenly uneasy looking knights. "Ah, strange." The man shrugged. "Take a seat ladies. It matters little what your origins are, only that you move forward with all conviction."

"So these necklaces conceal us from your spell?" Signum fingered the small chain that rested under her shirt.

"More like they project a lie and then make it the truth." Wrath grimaced as he spoke. "That's an inelegant way of stating it, but so long as your life and will are strong you are as real at night as any of us. Both they and the brushes are gifts to you, so please feel free to keep them."

"What exactly are the capabilities of your mages?" Yuuno finally asked. "Sensing that Signum and Vita are different can't be done nearly as easily at Mid-childa."

Ranma snorted slightly and reached over to the table to grab some food. "They are all kinda freaky. Not nearly as strong as us, but they make up for it in various ways."

"Everyone has a basic skill set." Wrath nodded at Ranma in reply. "But it varies from person to person. We have people capable of healing, fighting, casting barriers, removing barriers, dancing the the shadows, and a host of other skills. I personally know mostly light barriers, a spell to focus sunlight, a few clairvoyance techniques and one of our sacred songs."

"Oh!" Ranma perked up at the last item. "You finally got one?"

Wrath nodded at the teen in response. "We have thirteen sacred songs, every one of them have a very specific function related to who the patron of the song is. They are some of the most powerful spells we have."

"That would explain the references to thirteen in your shadow temple." Yuuno nodded at Wrath. "What do they do?"

"You picked up on that?" Wrath chuckled at the teen. "Some of our regular worshipers don't see that. Unfortunately they are what amounts to national secrets, so I can't just say what each one does. However..." Wrath tilted his head and looked off into the darkness. "The Serenade of Promise is going to be sung tonight in preparation for the coming battle."

Vita looked up from the contemplation of her hands. She still wasn't sure if the necklace was a good thing or a bad thing, but she was willing to try it for the night at least. "What exactly is going to happen?"

A soft voice came from the center of the gathering. "Good evening everyone." Most people found places to sit down, revealing the woman who had been speaking.

She was a frail thing, almost pure white in her appearance. She nodded at the crowd and took a few steps, twirling around to be sure everyone was sitting. She cleared her throat and began to speak ritually. "Fly with me. There are no limits, there have never been limits."

Then with a deep breath she began to sing. There were no words, no instruments accompanying her, but every note was pure as a crystal. Then another pure note joined in, and another. Soon it was as if an entire chorus was singing in a thousand voices. It soared.

The woman glowed with power, and the entire city seemed to light up. The music wound, and grew in power. A million voices, instruments, every one of them singing and playing about the shear power that life was. To progress to hope for something greater. In one wordless moment it seemed as if the world was white and there was nothing to stop you. Then the night encroached in, and everything was silent.

In the center the woman staggered to the ground. A man in black clothing immediately moved to her side and placed a cloth over her. She staggered to her feet amidst a flurry of small magic lights.

"What was that?" Vita gasped out as she blinked her eyes clean. She had inexplicably teared up.

"The Serenade of Promise," Wrath replied simply. He held his hands together and made a small magic light. "Oh, this is how you show your appreciation." He threw the small light in the air, where several more were flitting around. "Some people like making them into shapes, but it's enough that you make something small."

Signum held her hands together and sent up a small light as well, smiling briefly at the flurry of lights in the air. "That was very beautiful. Why would you keep it to yourself?"

"It doesn't have much affect on you now, and you might not even need it." The man shrugged slightly. "The Serenade grants people hope for a better tomorrow. We use it to give our people strength in battle, hope for the future. In clinical terms it's one of the most powerful morale boosters we have."

"That's cold Wrath." Shadowed Desire walked up with a small smile on her face. "You are treating one of our most sacred songs as a tool for war."

"I'm cynical," the man replied deadpan. "I might believe, but that doesn't mean that I don't know about the effects of our songs."

"Heh," Desire chuckled slightly. "Ok, Wrath has monopolized you all enough. Come out and socialize. There are a lot of people that want to meet our foreign friends." The woman smiled warmly and grabbed Signum by the arm. "Come on, all of you!"

* * *

Another chapter. Forgive the author for not being very responsive to questions. I try to answer queries in the story more than in the authors notes. R&R please. I do enjoy knowing that people like my work.


	12. Chapter 12

School at Furinkan wasn't nearly as much fun without Ranma Fate noted silently to herself. While the school was notably calmer, the classrooms had become almost oppressive with the way half the class had started to treat her differently now that the boy was no longer acting as a buffer. Akane tried to help, but several of the boys were starting to get rather pushy. Most of them were courteous enough to leave after one or two rebuffs, but there were one or two were taking her calm demeanor as an open invitation instead of the natural kindness that was her nature.

Fate couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone encouraging them as well. She had her suspicions, but was too kind to voice them. Instead she started to quietly and thoroughly investigate on her own. She might not have been a full time member of the TSAB, but she still held the title of enforcer. Amusingly enough Akane was the only one who really got that, and part of the reason that she was attempting to eliminate the situation was the desire to keep her school standing.

Even the blue haired girl was starting to get mildly irritated though. The only bright spot on the entire situation was the fact that a cute new boy had transferred in, one who actually didn't seem to care about Fate and Akane's popularity. It was a refreshing change to talk with a polite young boy who didn't get distracted by looks.

The three of them had hit it off surprisingly well, both girls using the boy as a barrier between them and the more irritating people in the school. Both the men and the women. That he could cook made the entire lunch break very pleasant.

"You looked distracted during class Fate." Akane commented as she took a bite of the creation their new friend had made.

"I just got a message from a friend that requested something." Fate grimaced as she looked at the blue haired girl. "Both Nanoha and I are unfortunately too far away to help properly. It's rather time sensitive."

"Ah." Akane nodded, correctly associating it with the rather unusual occupation that Fate's friends had. "Was it important? Should I be worried?"

"Signum and Vita are adults." Fate sighed and nibbled on the food that she had been given. "It's unfortunate, but everyone that could assist is too far away. They didn't phrase it as an emergency, but they have a habit of underestimating the amount of trouble they get into."

"I'm afraid I'm lost Sugar." Their new friend commented as he listened in. "Who are these people and how much trouble are they in?"

"You've seen pictures of Signum and Vita." Akane replied with a grimace as she thought of the pictures still floating around the school. "They are very good martial artists involved in.. Trouble shooting would be the best to call it right?"

"That fits as well as anything." The blond haired girl nodded. "They are fairly powerful, and Ranma is with them so they should be fine. We still worry though, and if Hayate wasn't worlds away she would have already been on her way there."

"Really?" The boy leaned forward intently. "I thought I heard Ranma's name mentioned before. He usually attends this school right?"

"Usually." Fate nodded in reply. "He's out doing something for my older brother otherwise he would be here."

"I hate to say it, but I do wish he was still here." Akane muttered quietly. "The idiots at this school are getting irritating."

"I don't disagree with you there." The boy nodded at them both. "I'm not even the one being hit on and I want to hurt them. Poor Fate over here is getting the worst of it."

"So long as the stay polite I can deal with it." The blonde haired girl spoke softly. "But if even one of them attempts to touch me again I will not be responsible for what happens."

"Please don't blow up the school." Akane replied with a completely straight face.

Ukyo blinked and looked at Fate and Akane. "You're kidding right sugar? No offense to her, but Fate looks more like a princess than anybody who can fight."

Fate just smiled mysteriously as Akane burst into a fit of giggles.

"Fair beauties I have returned!" A pompous declaration made all three people turn as the school idiot began to speak to them. "Allow me to proclaim-" He was interrupted by his speech as Nanoha came jumping in, landing right on the boys head and knocking him out.

"Faaaaate!" She exclaimed happily. "I just got the perfect thing to make you forget all about your troubles."

"Oh no." Fate placed her palm on her face. "I know that look."

"Huh?" Akane blinked as the brown haired girl giggled and walked up to the three, holding a small brown package.

"This is funny!" The girl giggled and sat next to her best friend in the whole world. "Plus it gives me the perfect answer to your picture blackmail."

"Please no." Fate cried out softly in dread. "I'm still living down the time you started complaining over an open mic about my combat uniform."

"You brought that one on your self dear Fate." Nanoha replied primly as she arranged herself and handed the package over. "Don't bother destroying it, I have copies, and apparently it's the first part of a series."

Cringing the blonde haired girl timidly opened up a corner of the package and went alternately white then totally red. "Erk." She gurgled in supreme embarrassment.

"I still can't get over how well they managed to cast the actors." Nanoha smiled with dark glee. "I mean their acting leaves something to be desired, but really they look almost exactly like us. Of course they don't have the same names, but you know they meant us."

"Gurk." Fate quietly and calmly closed up the package and sat it in front of her. With nary a change in expression she held out her hand and aimed it. In front of her Akane's eyes widened and she pushed Ukyo out of the way. A bright light illuminated the school yard, and in front of Fate there was a fairly large sizzling crater.

"Yeah, that's how I expected you to act." Nanoha giggled and pulled out another package. "But I made copies!"

With an eerily calm expression Fate turned to Nanoha and then looked at the package in her hands. With no warning she lunged and tackled the brown haired girl. The package fell out of the girl's hand and in front of Akane.

With almost fatal curiosity Akane picked up the package, ignoring the fact that Nanoha and Fate were now in a rather heated wrestling match. She slowly opened up the package and then just gaped at the cover.

"Give!" Nanoha had Fate in a headlock. "Say uncle!"

"What the hell is this!" Akane shrieked out loud. To her side Ukyo looked at the object in her hands and just blinked in shock.

"Fate and I are popular in some circles." The brown haired girl looked at Akane with a smile. "Ranma's not as well known, but he hangs around us enough to give certain impressions. It's a rather amusing parody of our relationship."

"It's a porno." Ukyo spoke with sick fascination. "You are right though, the actors do look very much like you."

"Why would you buy something like this?" Akane modulated her voice down. Half the school was now staring at the group in fascination.

"It's funny?" Nanoha shrugged in indifference as she let go of a thoroughly humiliated Fate. "Not as if people don't already think we are in that sort of relationship."

"You aren't right?" The only boy of the group asked with dread.

Fate slapped her hand over Nanoha mouth. "Ignore what she says about it." The girl's elegant appearance had been thoroughly ruined. "We aren't in THAT sort of relationship."

"Would be fun though." The brown haired girl giggled at Fate's expression. "Don't worry Fate, I'm not going to get into a four way with Hayate, Signum and Vita."

"Please tell me that's not a scene." The blonde begged softly.

"According to reviews it's the second hottest scene apart from the threesome that's at the end with us and Ranma." Nanoha pursed her lips in thought. "Though I don't think the actor playing Ranma has the correct proportions."

"Kill me now." Fate sank to the ground into a disheveled lump of blond hair.

"Revenge!" Nanoha grinned evilly and snatched back her tape. "I can't wait for Ranma to get back. I plan on having the final scene playing in right when he walks in for the debrief."

Fate's mouth twitched. "That should be amusing."

"Glad you see it that way!" Nanoha chirped and began to run off. "I'll get you pictures of his face."

Ukyo's mouth opened and closed as the brown whirlwind sprinted off. Finally she just slumped and looked to Fate. "Is she always that bad?"

"That was rather bad." Fate admitted softly. "I think she's missing us a bit though. I do want pictures when Ranma sees that though."

Akane's mouth twitched. "That should be amusing."

"So you and Nanoha are famous enough to have that sort of parody made of you?" Ukyo's eyebrow raised at the thought.

"As Nanoha would say, both of us are very 'hot'." Fate admitted quietly. "I knew somewhere that it might happen, but actually seeing it is another thing."

"There there." Akane patted the girl on the back. "Just be glad that no one at school has any idea of it."

Fate just wailed softly.

* * *

The tent was ill lit, hot and muggy. There was no celebration here, no joy. Now was the time to set aside frivolity and begin preparations for war. The pace was dizzying in it's speed, and off to the side the off-worlders just watched in near awe as at the center of it all sat Wrath who calmly and succinctly doled out every mission and bit of information like he had been studying it all his life. This was his element, not the field of combat, but in tactics, in anticipation of the enemy, and in the utter ruthlessness required to send your own people into certain death.

They four of them didn't have to be there, but they wanted to. This was something important, and even if they were not part of these people, each and every one of them wanted to see this conclude with the least amount of life lost.

"Your job is going to be hardest out of them all." The man was winding down as he addressed one rather nervous looking woman. "But it's not going to be combat intensive, in fact if you find yourself confronting a High Summon you should be retreating to the nearest experienced unit."

"What shall I be doing then lead?" The woman asked in curiosity.

"You and the less experienced people will be restraining the civilians. Any hint of violence you should either bind or subdue. Treat them all with kid gloves for now." Wrath brought up a picture of a city with his device. "This city will be your area with about two wings of people. I have a few suggestions for deployment, but it would be best for you to make judgments on site."

"Yes leader." The woman bowed and turned to leave.

"And, I think that is all I can do with the information I have at hand." Wrath slumped back into the chain and rubbed his head. A light flickered where skin met skin and he gave out a relieved sigh. "That much computation always gives me a headache."

"You didn't have to get that all done so quickly." Shadowed Desire spoke softly from behind him.

"Best to get it out of the way so I can deal with the inevitable mistakes and misinterpretations that will happen before we leave." Was the quick reply. The war-leader opened up his eyes and looked at the four off-worlders. "Now for the very last part."

Signum nudged Ranma, and the boy awoke with a start. Yawning sleepily he grinned at the tent. "We ready to get this going?"

"Almost." Wrath projected a map of the area. "Here is where the circle is." A red light illuminated the spot. "We need to get there within the week, and then strike. Best case we find them flatfooted and manage to destroy the circle with no opposition. Worst case we fight a pitched battle and they attempt to set of the circle prematurely."

"And what will happen then? Do you know how complete they have it?" Yuuno asked with near dread.

"I can guess, but have no hard facts." Wrath waved his hand to dispel the map. "I have alternate plans depending on what happens. The initial plan isn't nearly as complex as everything else. We basically go in and smash things."

"Are you sure you wish to come with?" Signum asked with a raised eyebrow. "You would be far more of use to your people directing them while we strike."

"Impossible." The man frowned deeply. "For one thing we need one of our people there to be sure that everything is properly handled, and for another my contingency plans require my presence. I have left detailed plans and alternate plans in the event that they need advice. However, I do trust my people to do what is necessary."

"We had to argue him out of leaving us behind." Shattered Joy chirped brightly as she tilted her helmeted head. "Ideally we would bring all four of our disciples for this, but we don't have a heaven knight that is compatible with our dear Wrathy here."

"Tradition is a hard thing to break." The person in question muttered. "I do believe you have the power to do this task, it would just set my mind at ease if I was there."

"All right." Signum frowned as she contemplated the two bodyguards. "We could probably fly you all a good portion of the way there. It should allow us to be there well within your deadline."

"My thanks." Wrath got to his feet and looked down up at the tent ceiling. "I need to go check on a few things. Travel arrangements can be made with Desire and Joy."

The man walked out of the tent with a small frown. Everyone watched him go silently. Only when he was out of the tent did Joy speak.

"He's so hiding something," the Hell Knight stated in a conversational tone to the tent at large.

Desire rolled her eyes. "Of course he is. He wouldn't have attempted to keep us away from his side if he wasn't."

"So what is he hiding?" Signum asked warily. "Is it something we should be worried about?"

"Well, he likes Ranma." Desire pursed her lips and contemplated the question. "So I don't think he would send you into a trap, and since he's going along it's important and isn't something that he feels that could be ignored."

"So we have no idea." Joy finally spoke cheerily.

"Trying to figure out how he thinks is impossible," Ranma muttered in irritation. "More importantly we have to transport three people who can't fly across what looks like a good days flight at the very least."

"If Yuuno can handle Desire for that long I can take Joy." Signum volunteered. "That leaves Wrath with Vita though."

Joy giggled loudly. "Well, that will work, but you do know that I can unsummon my armor right?"

"Then I get Joy and you get Wrath." Vita smiled in amusement. "Yuuno doesn't have the reserves to handle anyone heavier than those two."

Yuuno slumped down in embarrassment. "I suppose I can do that."

"Yay!" Joy bounced up and down, which was rather amusing to see done in full plate. "I'll be sure to get the food and water packed right. Is there anything else we need?"

"Maybe one thing." Desire tilted her head slightly at Vita.

"Oh!" Joy stopped bouncing and turned to the red haired girl. "Heyya Vita! Do you think you could be Wrath's Heaven Knight for this trip?"

The red haired girl tilted out of her chair in surprise. "What?"

Ranma coughed in response. "Isn't that sorta like a marriage?"

"Ew! Where did you get that idea?" You couldn't see it through the armor, but joy looked a bit grossed out. "Desire's my sister, and she's also my Black-touched. All it is is a sort of partnership which allows people to communicate and know where and what your partners status is."

"You know that sounds familiar." Ranma frowned in thought.

"You got a sort of tri-partnership going actually." Desire looked at the boy with a curious expression. "We thought that was why you didn't stay longer with us. Wrath noted it when you and he played those games, and later realized that you had gotten in scarred into your soul somehow."

Ranma's mouth opened and closed with a snap. Finally he just shook his head. "I suppose that's one reason he creeped me out when we first met."

"All right." Vita spoke up, surprising everyone. "Whatever. I'll do it if it will help."

"Yay!" Joy clapped her metal clad hands.

* * *

The place where the summoning circle had been drawn was in an obscure place. Embedded in the side of a mountain off almost all the main paths, the tunnel it was placed in was high enough that there was frost on the stones nearby. Even with flight the place was near impossible to get to, and getting up the cliff had been far more taxing than the team had liked. Fortunately the information about the location combined with Wrath's ability to locate an out of the way spot allowed them all to rest before the strike.

"We are comfortably within the deadline." The leader of the expedition stated as he looked around their small campsite. "Now the only issue will be about how many summoners are there." Night was approaching rapidly, and the rest of the team was getting ready for the raid.

Desire appeared behind Wrath from the surrounding darkness. "I counted three summons, and none of the actual summoners."

"Elemental?" Wrath asked clinically. "Or do we have some fey as well?"

"Two earth and one ice." Was the quick reply. "I didn't spot anything that could be illusion, so I wouldn't guess any fey quite yet."

"Mind explaining what we are facing before we actually get into it?" Ranma waved a hand in imitation of a classroom.

"Summoners draw from two nearby planes. The Primal plan and the Wilde Plane." Wrath explained quickly. "Normal summoners can maintain maybe two or three small creatures. High summoners can maintain up to five. They can specialize in a specific plane, but most of them are trained in both. The Primal plane is mostly elemental, which are straightforward things based on various animal and elemental themes. The Wilde plane is full of Fey creatures, which are cunning, intelligent, and often capable of some very nasty illusion and bewitching spells. Fey are as a rule far less strong in direct combat though, so expect a mix."

"Sounds fun." Ranma muttered sarcastically.

"Signum and Ranma should take out the elemental." The man nodded to the two indicated people. "Desire and Joy are going to be infiltrating with Yuuno, and Vita and I are going to be taking out the Fey creatures."

"Might I ask why you picked those pairings?" Signum looked Wrath with a questioning expression.

"Since Vita is acting as my Heaven Knight for this, I can grant her my eyes." The White-touched inclined his head at the tiny red-head. "That is necessary for combat versus most Fey. Of course I will be nearby you two so I can make sure that they don't go after you without interference. Unfortunately Yuuno, Desire, and Joy are going to be in the most danger."

"Which we're used to." Joy interjected. "We can flee if things go badly, especially because it's night."

"If you could go to ferret form for this?" Desire asked Yuuno quietly. "I can cloak you far easier if you are smaller."

"Ok." Yuuno nodded in reply.

Wrath continued. "Joy and Desire's combined night time skills allow them to get past most alarms and sentries. They are going to be the ones in the most danger though, and the most important. While we go in the front way they are going to be going in the side to do the real work. Yuuno is essential to this plan, he has the best shot at disabling the circle without issue."

Yuuno blushed slightly at being the center of attention, but nodded at Wrath. "I should be able to break it in a few seconds without any big issues."

"All right, I think we got the idea." Vita hefted her hammer menacingly. "Are we all ready?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives.

"Let me make sure that we have a temporary bond set right first." Wrath walked over to where Vita was, placing one hand on her shoulder and lowering his face to where he was eye to eye with her. "This is going to be disorientating for a second."

Both Ranma and Signum watched the two curiously. There was no physical change as the two stared at each other, but after a moment both people shivered like they had been dipped in ice water. Wrath actually staggered, and Vita took a deep shuddering breath.

"Yick!" The redhead shook herself. "That feeling sucks."

"It is uncomfortable." Wrath got to his feet, and very closed one eye, then the other. "I don't feel any complications."

"Looks good from my end." Desire looked at the two with something other than sight. "Can she hear your points?"

"Ok, that is weird!" Vita shook her head. "It's like I know where exactly he is indicating."

The man nodded. "It takes some time to get used to. Fortunately all you really need from this is the basic illusion protection."

"You know..." Ranma frowned as he looked over the two. "That gives me all sorts of ideas."

"Really?" The White-touched turned to the pig-tailed martial artist with an interested look.

Ranma waved a hand. "Will tell you about it after this."

"Lets go." Signum gripped Levantine firmly and rose into the air.

Vita twitched in mild irritation. "Don't do that!"

Wrath winced slightly. "Sorry! Accident!"

"You know," Ranma muttered quietly to Yuuno as the boy shifted into ferret form. "I really hope she doesn't kill him before we get this done."

Desire picked up the transformed library gently and placed him on her shoulder. "It always takes time to get used to a bond."

"It's interesting noting the variations on standard magical practices." Yuuno commented to nobody in particular. "Your history must be fascinating to learn about. You can almost taste the way that the various spells have been crafted for various situations."

"We'll tell you about it later." Joy manifested her armor, and both she and Desire faded into darkness.

Ranma shrugged his shoulders and quietly invoked his device. Nayru flashed once and his armor formed. Then with a mighty leap he began to follow Signum and Vita, while Wrath trailed behind them all.

* * *

The three guards at the front of the complex were nothing of note, small creatures called forward more for the low maintenance cost than any actual combat capability. Ranma, Signum, and Vita had little trouble dealing with the three in a matter of seconds. However they served their purpose in death far more than in life, the summoners who controlled them were alerted immediately when they left the plane.

Wrath noted all this with little emotion as they broke open the doors to the complex. The point of this exercise was to provide distraction for Yuuno to get to where he needed to be. A far part of his mind wished he actually knew all the capabilities of his allies so that he could actually calculate chances. The rest of his mind simply planned and noted possible paths.

The first sign of serious resistance was sudden and unmistakable. A massive burst of wind impacted everyone as soon as they entered the rather narrow tunnel. Wrath, being the weakest was blown off his feet. The other fighters endured it well, but the wind distracted them enough to allow the massive slab of stone to rise up and pin Ranma to the ceiling.

To the side, Signum began to choke as the wind continued to whirl around her, stealing her breath away. The warrior attempted to swing at whatever was attacking her, but connected with nothing. Vita made to help her, but a quick mental command from Wrath made her turn around to focus on the stone elemental pinning a struggling Ranma to the ceiling.

"This sucks!" Ranma complained as the stone moved down and slammed up. The ceiling cracked from the impact, and the teen coughed as the wind was knocked out of him.

Signum staggered to the ground as the wind continued to blow. While Vita's hammer clanked and hissed, Wrath gently held out his hand and invoked. The stone shattered into pieces with one strike from the enraged red-head. Then a light enveloped Signum, slamming back the air elemental with a sound like a bell. The air elemental flew backwards, solidifying into a wispy frail looking bird. Signum's blade bisected it soon after.

"Hurry!" Wrath pointed down the hallway.

"Tch!" Vita began to sprint down the hall as Ranma and Signum recovered. As she ran what looked like a thousand arrows began to fly towards her.

For a moment she faltered, going on the defense. Then like a light going on she knew exactly what to do, and she moved like the seasoned warrior she was, right into the hail. Half of the arrows dissipated into smoke, and the ones that didn't hit her hammer with a clank. In front of her she spotted a winged humanoid with a bow taking aim once more.

She reared back, and a cloud of tiny creatures buzzed around her to intercept. They bit through her barrier like it was paper. Vita faltered for a moment, and then the bell chimed again, sweeping back the swarm with a flash. Behind Vita Ranma swept in and his fists blurred around the red-head snatching and crushing each of the tiny insects. Vita smashed aside the next volley of arrows, and then smashed into the winged creature, which popped like a balloon, dissipating into a flurry of sparkles.

"Keep going." Wrath told Signum and Ranma, placing his hand on Vita. "We will catch up."

"Damnit, don't stop me," Vita growled out at Wrath as Signum and Ranma began to move again.

"Hush, those bugs have a poisonous bite." Wrath's hand glowed. "My specialty isn't healing, but all White-touched have the basics." The few bites that Vita had gotten closed.

"Hot!" Ranma's voice came from down the tunnel, and there was a wash of heat.

"Wrath, there is another fey!" Signum called back.

Wrath nodded at Vita. "Lets go!"

* * *

Riding Desire's shoulder as she used her cloaking spell was a singularly terrifying experience that Yuuno had no wish to ever replicate. It was like walking through a living nightmare. The halls were paved with blood and scenes of depravity and destruction were everywhere. Every violent impulse and dark wish was painted in the shadows.

Desire of course was unaffected. "I'm sorry, I forgot how much walking through shadows affects the uninitiated."

"What was that?" Yuuno shook his small furry body.

"The black impressions of people around us." Joy shrugged. "I don't pretend to understand it, but it's something that Black-touched can use to shield themselves from sight."

"The things people don't acknowledge, or repress. We just walked through these little cracks to get here." Desire leaned back against a large barrel in the storage room they had hidden in. "We can get to anywhere we wish, but it can be exhausting depending on distance and people there. Rest for now, I can move again in a few minutes."

Yuuno shuddered again. "I think I get the reason you are called what you are now."

The Hell-Knight shrugged at the ferret. "We don't pretend to have nice powers." She paused and tilted her head. "Hush, someone is coming."

"Erk." Yuuno scampered to where Desire was sitting. "Can you move again?"

"No," the woman sighed out and leaned back with her eyes closed. "I would suggest you close your eyes all the same."

"Huh?" Yuuno looked to where Joy was standing.

It happened almost instantly. A young woman opened the door to get something out of the store room, Joy's eyes glowed red through her helmet. In one smooth motion the Hell-Knight grabbed the woman, pulled her in, and slid a black blade through the woman's ribs. She gave a quiet gasp and went limp as a black aura swirled around Joy.

"You killed her." Yuuno closed his eyes and trembled.

"We can debate ethics later." Joy sighed and held her hand out to her sister. "Understand that more people will die if we don't do this. The blood is not on your hands."

"If you wish I can put you out until we get to where we need to be." Desire grasped the hand and focused as the life force from the slain woman was transferred. "This is going to only get worse."

"No." The ferret took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "I will finish this first."

"Heh," Joy nodded at the ferret. "Brave."

"Huh?" Yuuno blinked at the Hell-Knight.

"A good name for him." The shadows swirled around Desire as she spoke.

"What?"

"Ye-ouch." Ranma muttered as Wrath pulled out a small arrow from the gap in his armor. "I officially hate fairies now."

"I don't think I can look at a fire the same way again." Vita replied back as she leaned against the wall. "Wrath's pretty good at keeping the worst of it off us at least."

"We are getting close to my limit." The White-touched replied as he finished healing up Ranma. "If I'm right, past these doors is what they will consider the last stand."

"I got the impression that they have been throwing everything at us." Signum said quietly as she looked at the door and then down the hall they had came.

"There should be at least one high summoner here," Wrath replied with a grimace. "I have fairly good information that on what their favored summons are, and none of them have been brought into battle. I have a guess as to what is going to happen, but we have to wait and see."

"Really?" Ranma raised an eyebrow and looked at the man opposite him. "What's the guess."

"My guess is that there are at least three here, and they are pooling their power to seal us in the room with a very particular summon." Wrath's mouth quirked in a parody of a smile. "It's the one that destroyed us last war. A deliberate cruelty."

"Peh, now I'm interested." Vita shouldered her hammer. "So tell me, what's this thing like?"

"A six winged angel of beauty." Wrath laughed a bit. "An angel of song that words cannot describe properly." Shaking his head he just walked to the door. "You will understand if it is what I predict."

"I swear I want to smack him one now." Ranma muttered and walked to where the door was opening.

The doorway was the entrance to a massive room, square and pure white. The entire room was lit up with magical power and sigils flashed across the white stone periodically. In the very center was a small circle of gold etched runes. As all four warriors entered the room lightning sparked across the room and the only other entrance slammed shut with finality.

A small child like doll slowly faded into view in the center of the circle. A beautiful faceless porcelain doll with long golden hair and closed eyes. Before the warriors could do more than gape at the thing, it's eyes snapped open revealing two glowing white orbs. It floated into the air and it's hear flowed and twisted as it pooled against the ground.

A single note resounded, like a guitar string being pulled. Ranma didn't wait for more. The teen blurred out of sight and his fist swung directly at the doll. A titanic gong sounded in response, and like he had been hit by a cannon Ranma was shot back just as fast as he had moved forward. A sphere surrounded the doll, and it's eyes turned towards the warriors.

"It has six wings!" Wrath yelled as he ran off to the side. "Five instruments and it's voice. If it starts to sing it will kill us all!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Vita growled out as she swung her hammer out to the ready.

A figure began to form out of the hair pooled on the ground. A flesh and blood version of the doll smiled at them all as she formed. She cradled a beautiful golden guitar and with a delicate hand stuck the first note.

"I get it now." Vita muttered as a massive shock-wave of sound ripped across the field and just barely missed the dodging red-head.

Signum didn't waste words. She just had Levantine load a cartridge and shift into whip form. The weapon snaked out and hissed through the air at the angel. The guitar wielder just struck another note and began to seriously play, sending a series of shock-waves out. The ripples knocked back the whip like it was a feather.

"Ow." Ranma muttered against the wall as Wrath moved to teen's side. The man placed his hand against the teen and like a shock Ranma jerked to alertness.

"I don't have a plan for this." Wrath muttered to the pig-tailed martial artist. "It's up to you."

"Heh," Ranma laughed in reply. "Don't worry."

The guitar wielder continued to play, every note reverberating off the walls. Signum and Vita blurred across the sides of the walls, and as they dodged another instrument began to join in. Drums began to pound, and a massive set of three drums began to appear out of the dolls hair, another woman joining into the devastating music.

'We have to get close.' Signum sent to Vita. 'Range just isn't doing it.'

"Hey!" Ranma called out as he appeared next to the large drums. Both of the players turned to where he was crouching and aimed their attacks.

Vita wasn't one to let an opening like that get away, and as the boy dodged the twin strikes of sound her hammer hissed and clanked and grew to titanic proportions. It raised and lowered with horrific speed and slammed downwards. The doll's eyes looked up at the hammer, and the gong sounded again to no avail. The hammer slowed but didn't stop, and impacted with a sphere of power surrounded the angel. It slammed downward, bending under the impact, but didn't break. Instead, a single hairline fracture appeared across the dolls face.

"Damn!" Vita cursed as one woman fixed her eyes on the red-head and the other focused on Ranma.

Another instrument began to join in, a keyboard. This woman appeared facing Signum cradling a small keyboard. She smiled as her notes began to join in with the rest of her sisters.

Ranma skidded as he dodged another sonic impact. This wasn't going well, she was up to three instruments, and they were already on the defensive. With a sweeping moment he flung out his cape, distracting the one targeting him for a brief instant. He swept out his pauldrons in two different directions, and sent a order to Nayru. Then with a near suicidal grin he charged forward, right into the next sonic blast.

His eardrums burst, but it accomplished what he wanted to do, getting him close enough to slam into the sphere barrier that the angel had setup. The focus of all three instrumentalists came on him, and as he grinned the two pauldrons slammed into the side of the field. It flinched slightly.

Then Signum and Vita's attacks came barreling in. Their devices hissed and clanked and impacted with horrific force. The barrier wavered and cracked under the onslaught, and for the first time the angel sowed signs of pain. It's face was covered in hairline fractures and it seemed to shudder with each breath.

Then a horn blared, and all three warriors were knocked back. Everything went silent as a woman held up her saxophone as she appeared. Strangely the women were still smiling serenely. The angel in the center of it all didn't seem nearly as serene though.

"Ok, this is getting creepy." Ranma shook his head as his ears popped. "Why'd it stop?"

"She's waiting on you, or her next tier of power." Wrath spoke from his place on the ground. The White-touched was near the end of his power and was trying to keep out of the way for now. "One more push should do it."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Vita picked herself up from the last attack. "It was hard enough the last time."

Wrath got to his feet and pulled out his device. "We can't break her defense right now, but if we do this right we can intercept her at the next instrument. She's an angel of beauty, she won't start to sing unless she has a proper introduction."

"So she's a drama queen." Ranma muttered.

"Everyone at once then." Signum's device clanked and hissed as it ejected it's cartridge and loaded another.

"Fine by me!" Vita pulled out several spheres and loaded up.

The ground under Ranma's feet lit up and he concentrated. "Lets get this over with!"

Wrath's sphere began to pull in light and he looked at the angel with a serene expression. "Farewell."

The attacks struck through the defense one last time. They impacted into the sphere surrounding the angel. The barrier wavered and shimmered, and then slowly like a curtain falling it dropped. There as a moment of complete silence.

Then the angel screamed. It was the only non-musical thing that it had done all battle, and the very force of knocked everyone off their feet. The doll began to shake, as it's face crumbled and it held it's head in pain. The other instrumentalists flinched for the first time in battle, closing their eyes and beginning to strum their instruments with total dedication. The last figure began to form out of the dolls hair and for the first time there was no sonic attacks. The only sound was the instruments playing with a sad voice slowly keening out in words beyond understanding.

Signum staggered to her feet and looked at her companions. They were all struggling to get to their feet with looks of pain. She staggered and took a step towards the angel. The doll looked up at the warrior and seemed to smile as it sang. Step by step, through the barrier that wasn't there anymore and to where the doll hung in midair. Her sword impacted cleanly. The angels head fell to the ground with a thump, and the musical slowly faded out.

Then the door opposite the side they had entered slammed open, and Joy staggered out, carrying both Yuuno and Desire. She grimaced and looked back. "They are activating the circle! We didn't get there in time."

* * *

_A few moments earlier._

_

* * *

_

They stepped out of the shadows in front of a set of iron wrought double doors. The things were inscribed in a very intricate series of glyphs and sigils, and radiated magic almost visibly. Desire took one look at the door and just shook her head.

"Whatever they did to that I'm going to have to get through the hard way." She spoke with distaste.

Joy took out her sword and secured her shield, turning her back to the door. "We will have company shortly then, I can hear it."

"What can I do?" Yuuno hopped down off of Desires shoulder.

"Protect Desire while she works." The Hell-Knight took a few steps forward. "And above all, don't get into my line of sight."

"So you will use that?" Desire murmured softly and moved close to the door. "I suppose it is appropriate."

"What do you mean?" Yuuno morphed into human form and took a step back to where he could cover Desire with his shield.

"Price of Obsession." The Black-touched replied as she almost pressed her body against the door. "One of our songs. So long as she can hold it she will destroy everything in her way."

"Hehe." Joy chuckled maniacal as he entire body gave off a dark thrum. The eyes behind her visor began to glow a malevolent red. "I will give everything. For rage and power, my price is my sanity. HAHA!"

Yuuno trembled as a horrid aura of fear began to emanate from the Hell-Knight. The simple black armor she was wearing seemed to shift, become more horrid and black. This was something that deserved the title Hell-Knight.

The first wave of creatures boiled out of the hallway. Half a dozen small bits of whirlwind and fire, little clomps of earth tumbling across the ground, and what looked like a massive wave on land behind them all.

Joy screamed, a horrid primal sound that made the line of creatures flinch. That was enough to allow her to get into their ranks. Her blade lashed out and the things it pierced died, drained of their life by the demonic power. A small clump of earth attempted to jump on her only to be batted aside by the shield. Then the water wave engulfed her. For a moment she was surround and suspended in water, and then she simply stabbed her sword downwards. Like a bubble the water elemental burst.

The small creatures that she missed scattered around her. The ones in front of her died quickly, but the ones that had managed to get behind her were ignored. They went straight for Yuuno and Desire, and impacted against a barrier to no effect. Yuuno might have been seriously disturbed by Joy's spell, but he knew battle, and he wasn't going to fail in his task.

Turning back Yuuno looked at Desire to see how she was doing with the door. The Black-touched seemed to be whispering to the door, and incredibly he could see the magic slowly being drawn into the woman, with little hints of rust starting to appear at the edges of the door.

Joy laughed with insanity as the next wave of creatures hit. These were more powerful than the last. A man sized creature of frost hissed at her and her wet armor crackled with ice. Behind it, a creature with wings drew back it's bow and a veritable storm of arrows flew at Joy. They pierced her frostbitten armor, and Joy continued to laugh as she plowed into the frost creature with little regard to her health.

The bow creature skipped back out of her reach at the last second as the frost creature died under Joy's blade. Another hail of arrows pierced her armor. Just as she reached the creature a stone bear slammed into her. She skidded back, dropping her sword. With a primal scream she grabbed the bear with her now free hand and slammed her helmet into the bears head. The helmet cracked, along with the bear's head. With another savage slam her helmet shattered, along with the bears head. Undeterred by what should be a fatal blow the bear reared back ready to smash Desire with it's weight. Still clinging on, arrows in her body, Desire reared back and bit the creature. A massive black aura darkened the two, and the bear lurched as it's life drained out.

Behind them Yuuno was now dealing with the bow creature as well as the tiny elemental. With a frown he looked from Joy to the creatures and then made a small gesture. With a crack of power the shield shattered into pieces, sharp pieces. The tiny elemental creatures died from the feedback, but the bow creature just drew back his next arrow.

The thousands of arrows met another barrier just as swiftly setup. For a moment they hung in the air, but then all but one disappeared. Yuuno frowned minutely, but just shook his head at the oddity. Calmly he noted exactly where the creature was, and then did a few calculations. Finally he made a gesture and just as the bow creature drew back it's arrow a sigil appeared under it. Movement spell complete Yuuno watched as the creature's form was shifted a few meters down the hall, right into Joy's berserk gaze.

The librarian noted that he would be a lot more disturbed if these creatures didn't de-summon after being 'killed.' Joy had gotten her sword back at least, and the helmet had healed somehow. A noise from behind him made him turn.

"Got it." Desire pulled back from the door and looked at it with pride.

The iron was rusted all the way through, and the once powerful magic protecting it was gone. Desire took a step back and gripped her sword securely. Then with a powerful lunge she brought it down the through the center of the door, shattering a hole the size of a person in the barrier.

Yuuno looked through the door expecting to see the circle that they had to disrupt. Instead he saw the massive head of a creature. A distant part of his mind noted that it didn't look like any dragon he was familiar with. The rest of him was lunging in front of Desire and setting up the strongest barrier he could.

With an exhale a gout of flame blindingly white erupted from the dragon and impacted into Yuuno's shield. The stone around the two melted, and despite Yuuno's best efforts his barrier started to crack. Frantic the teen grit his teeth, and did a second set of calculations. He dropped the barrier for a second, and the heat washed over them. The second barrier snapped up, and the wash of fire bent around them. Yuuno and Desire staggered to the ground.

Behind them Joy snapped out of her rage as the fire washed around her and heated the hallway to an unbearable measure. The Hell-Knight turned around frantically to find both Desire and Yuuno down on the ground.

She ran to them as the dragon inhaled again. With a clank she slammed her shield in front of the two, and braced herself.

"No." Desire croaked and wrapped shadows around them just as the dragon fire impacted Yuuno's barrier.

"I felt the circle start to wind up as we got out of there." Yuuno rasped out through half burnt vocal cords. "It will take a few minutes, but the thing is set to go off."

Wrath looked through the doorway that the three had come out of. "You three retreat now. I can't spare the energy to heal you, but if you can make it to the forwarding camp you should be out of harms way."

"Yes." Desire heaved herself to her feet and coughed.

"That's cold." Ranma looked at Wrath. "You haven't done nearly as much as we have, you could spare some power to at least make sure they don't have to limp."

"Don't argue." Joy replied with almost no emotion. "We failed and if you are to succeed you need all you have."

"As cold as it is I have to agree." Signum began to walk down the hall. "We have to hurry."

"Come on." Vita shouldered her hammer and followed.

"Fine then." Ranma just shook his head and began to sprint down the after the two knights, Wrath right behind him.

"How does a dragon fit into the elemental or fey diagram?" The pig-tailed martial artist asked curiously. "For that matter what was with the 'angel'."

"They believe everything is from those two planes. The angel is just from a place that 'we' refer to as 'heaven' and 'they' refer to as the primal plane." Wrath explained as the ran down the halls. "We believe differently, but that is what reasoning they use. As for the dragon, its actually an elemental creature based on a dragons form. Something that only a High Summoner can call."

"So that's where the bosses are," Vita responded with some irritation. "Do they have anything else as big as that angel?"

"They should be fairly tapped out," was the reply. "Two or three big things should be all we have to deal with."

The halls ahead showed some serious signs of fire damage, making it very obvious where they needed to be. Pausing the four of them charged forward as fast as possible. The inhale of breath from the dragon was painfully obvious, but the speed of the fighters was enough to allow them to impact with the dragon's head before it managed to let loose.

With a massive crash the beast's head was knocked clear back into the room. Following as quickly as possible the four found themselves inside a massive stone room with the circle they had all been trying so hard to destroy surrounded by three people.

"Almost!" One of them said.

"Not while we are here!" Vita yelled as she charged forward, only to be knocked back by a massive surge of electricity.

A snake made of lightning twined around the form of one of the summoners and the ten rings on his hands glinted with magical light. To the side the dragon picked itself up with a titanic heave, and the air started to shimmer.

"Damn." Wrath muttered.

"Ignore the white-touched." One of the summoners spoke as he looked at the intruders. "The other three are the dangerous ones."

"Vita, after the Fey! Ranma the snake!" Wrath skittered so that he was out of line of fire. "Signum you have the dragon."

Vita snarled as she got to her feet. "What fey!" The tiny red-head found her attention drawn to an indistinct shimmer in the air.

With a mighty cry Vita lunged at the shimmer, and watched as it dodged out of the way to reveal a small fairy. The tiny winged woman smiled at the red-head and blew a cloud of dust right into her face. Vita didn't breath any of it in, but that didn't seem to matter as her vision wavered fantastically. Growling she swung exactly where she felt Wrath directing her and felt a minute impact against her hammer. Shaking her head Vita tried to focus on the indistinct blob that was her enemy.

Behind her Wrath cursed and tried to avoid the combatants and get to Vita. The serpent had wrapped around Ranma, and the two were frantically rolling around the ground right between the two. With a cry Ranma managed to grip the snake's head, and felt the electricity course through his body. Twitching spasmodically the teen slammed the thing's head into the ground.

The dragon roared and the White-touched glanced back to see Signum in the air and one of the dragon's eyes gone. With a mighty inhale the thing aimed it's muzzle at Signum and breathed. The fire lanced across the ceiling and the walls, leaving trails of molten stone.

Vita cried out in pain as vines grew out from her clothing, constricting around her body. The small fairy was impossibly hard to hit, and the various illusions she was casting weren't making it any easier. Fortunately the damage she taking was minimal, but it was starting to add up. If she could just get a good hit on it. She felt a pair of hands grab her, and nearly lashed out by reflex. Then her vision cleared and Wrath dodged away just as a lance of wood lashed out from the vines covering Vita.

With a growl the red-head pulled out the plants, leaving long bloody grooves in her skin. The she focused on the irritating fairy flitting after Wrath. With a hiss and a clank she her hammer loaded a cartridge, and then with a savage war-cry Vita raised her hammer. It grew into massive proportions and dropped with a massive crash, right next to Wrath and right on top of the tiny fairy.

Ranma yelled out in triumph and slammed the snake into the ground once more as it hissed weakly. His body was burnt and the armor singed, but the snake had not been able to break through Nayru's defenses. The snake twitched weakly and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

The dragon roared once more, blinded. Above it, Signum clicked her scabbard to the hilt of her sword to form a bow, and then drew back the string. A beam of light appeared as if there was an arrow loaded, and the Knight let loose. With a terrific smash the arrow impacted directly in the dragon's head, and it crumbled into stone and fire.

The summoners laughed as the last of their creatures crumbled and raised their hands in sequence. "It can't be stopped now!"

"No!" Ranma got to his feet and rushed to where the summoners were, only to skid to a stop as a series of swords impacted the ground in front of him.

Wrath smiled as he held out his hand. "Not exactly what I wanted, but this will do."

He walked forward and began to speak. "This is my life."

The world seemed to ripple. "Here is my line."

A crackle of lightning lashed between the swords and there were a hundred voices chanting his words. "You cannot cross."

The summoners circle began to light up. "You WILL NOT cross."

The circle lit up impossibly bright, and then something seemed to happen. The stones inside the circle began to melt, and two world inside the swords began to light up impossibly bright. The circle was trying to finish it's function, but couldn't get out. Inside the barrier the summoners tried to back up, but were unable to leave the barrier. Then the circle exploded.

The area inside the swords evaporated. There was no other word for it, one moment there was a circle with people around it, and now there was nothing but a hole.

"What the hell?" Ranma walked to where the sword was embedded in the ground.

"Not unexpected." Wrath grimaced as he held he hand out. "If you three could make sure that everyone is evacuated?"

"Umm, what are you going to do?" Ranma turned to the visibly straining Wrath.

"I'm going to maintain the barrier here as much as possible then let it go." The White-touched grimaced again. "Unfortunately that will to release all the energy that was used in casting it, so it's going to make a rather large explosion."

"What?" The exclamation came from three people.

"Don't worry, I can shift the barrier so that it doesn't hit me." Wrath grinned fleetingly. "Unfortunately I will have to make it really small, so you all have to get out of here."

Ranma grimaced and made to speak up, but Signum just nodded and began to sprint out. "We can have Vita tell you when we are out!"

Hesitantly the three began to sprint out, checking out several passageways that they hadn't gone down to be sure that there were no other people inside. The faculty was small, and it seemed that most everyone had run out when they had attacked. Quickly the three ran out, and both Signum and Vita took off as soon as they were in an area where they could fly.

"Did we check as much as possible?" Signum asked Vita.

"Yeah." Vita nodded at her fellow knight.

"All right then." Signum turned to where the facility was. "Tell him to drop it."

The explosion was sudden, an enormous lash of fire pouring out of the tunnel. The mountain shook, and for one heart stopping moment the knights thought an avalanche was triggered. The rumblings stopped soon after.

Up in the air Vita frowned. "It's gone."

"What is?" Signum turned to Vita.

"That weird bond thingy that Wrath setup." The redhead closed her eyes and tried to focus. "It's totally gone."

"Ah." Signum turned back to the complex.

"He's gone isn't he?" Vita asked quietly.

"Probably," was the reply.

A cry of grief came from the campsite where the rest of their party way. The knights just kept in the air, watching, and waiting to see if the White-touched would return. They stayed that way for a long while.

* * *

AN: Of note, the world Wrath's from is all original, so don't expect to know the references. Please feel free to review. 4 more chapters of the Ranma arc give or take, and then we go onto Striker arc, and probably finish it off there.


	13. Chapter 13

"I understand your urgency, but we cannot just hand over resources. Any military action would have to be both evaluated and improved. We value the relationship we have had, but feel I must remind you that you have been officially neutral in all of our interactions." Chrono was not a diplomat, but he could negotiate fairly well if he needed to. It did help that the person that he was negotiating with was rather desperate.

"I see." High Summoner Gareth nodded at the officer and set down the tea cup that he had been given. "I don't suppose an official change in our relationship would change your mind? We would be very willing to consider any offer of aid a debt to be repaid with interest."

"That might be possible." Chrono frowned as he got a mental message. "Excuse me."

"Of course." The Summoner settled back in his seat.

"Well this is interesting. We have just gotten a request from the Holy Union to join in on this conference." The TSAB officer looked at the man across from him.

Gareth sputtered. "You can't be serious. They have little knowledge of dimensional mechanics, and even less of diplomacy."

"Regardless, I think it would be best to have the envoy attend. This does involve them after all." Chrono sent the instructions, ignoring how Gareth fumed in silence.

The door to the room opened shortly after that, and a woman dressed in white with almost pure white skin walked into the room. A figure in silvered armor stepped right behind her. With out words the knight stepped to the side of the door and the woman ghosted almost into the room.

"You are a white-touched and a Heaven Knight correct?" Chrono asked curiously as he gestured to a seat away from Gareth. "Please have a seat."

"I see you are well informed." The woman took a seat. "My companion would rather stand if that is all right. I thank you for allowing me to approach you in this time of strife. My name is Dearest Faith."

Gareth let his breath hiss out of him. "I'd prefer that this girl not be here for this, but I can make allowances."

"Thank you for your consideration." Chrono nodded at the High Summoner. "Now if I might ask, why are you here?"

"To extend our appreciation of the agents you sent to deal with the problem of the dimensional ripples." Faith smiled warmly at Chrono. "We had little idea of the significance of the Summoner Nation's actions until your agents informed us of the issue. Due to their timely interference we have been able to resolve the entire issue to our satisfaction. In fact, they were so useful we would like to extend our hands in friendship."

Gareth went white, then went red in fury. "What did you savages do!" He slammed his hands down on the table separating them.

"Control yourself please." Chrono gave The High Summoner a look that implied that he was not impressed by the outburst.

"I do believe your people have a policy of non-interference?" The White-touched inclined her head at Chrono.

"We aren't asking for them to come swooping in on glowing wings." Gareth muttered before clearing his throat and continuing. "If we could at least request some aid for a civilian populace, and a place to move them should worse come to worse?"

Faith sighed softly as she replied. "I do not believe you have the authority to request that anymore actually."

"What are you talking about?" The High Summoner glared at the White-touched. "I'm one of the highest authorities in my nation, if I request it, it's as if my entire nation requests it!"

"What nation?" Faith smiled warmly. "As far as I know, your government has all but dissolved, and our people have had to step in to keep order. In fact, you are the last High Summoner left alive."

"What?" Gareth lunged to his feet. "That's impossible!" The rings on his hands began to glitter with power.

"Stand down." Chrono got to his feet and summoned his device. "I will not allow this meeting to devolve into violence."

"So tell me Chrono, do your people have good medical treatment?" Faith spoke as if both men weren't on their feat and about to clash.

Chrono gripped his device and looked at the woman with an incredulous expression. "Why are you asking that now?"

Gareth coughed into his hands and staggered. With a confused expression he looked at the blood on his palms and coughed again, spitting blood on the table. He slumped to the ground with a soft sigh.

"The poison that Gareth had consumed before leaving hinged on a certain amount of power being channeled." The White-touched replied with a calm smile. "So far as I know, most conventional medical spells are ineffective treating it."

"Get medics in here now!" Chrono activated an intercom as he stared at the man on the floor.

"We do not mind if you manage to save him." Dearest Faith got to her feet as a few medically trained personnel ran into the room. "However if he recovers understand that he and any other former High Summoners are to be killed. Please be sure that he never returns." With that the woman walked out of the room.

–

Ranma shifted uneasily as he sat in the chair. In front of the teen Chrono sat quietly, going over the data pad with meticulous care. The two were alone in the room. Vita and Signum were both in a different area on the ship where Hayate was fussing over them. Since Yuuno had already gone home Ranma was really the last person that could properly relate what had happened. Well, that and the fact that his reports were incoherent and rambling when written down.

"So this Wrath is dead?" Chrono asked finally as he set down the data pad.

Ranma shrugged. "Might be, might not be. It's kinda hard to tell, but at the very least they can't get a hold of him."

"Pity," Chrono replied with a grimace. "At least we had an idea of how the man operated. With him gone we have no idea about who is leading the Holy Union and what their goals are."

"I thought there was a diplomat on the ship?" Ranma pointed out.

"There is, but she's confined to the diplomat corridors while we try to sort out this entire business. The High Summon Gareth is still in intensive care, and we can't tell if he's going to survive yet." Chrono sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The Holy Union is being annoyingly vague over who is in charge. I don't suppose you have an idea?"

"No clue." Ranma shook his head. "I know aspects of them, but the government is something that I never really asked about." He shrugged in indifference. "Never really cared."

"I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that the diplomat is authentic." Chrono tapped the data pad. "And she's been very cooperative in how the High Summoner was injured. This entire incident is going to be very irritating on several levels, but we might be able to have this area of dimensional space off our danger areas. We are spread thin enough as it is."

"Meh, you brought me in to solve somethin.'" Ranma rolled his eyes. "Diplomacy is not my thing."

"Thank you for that at least." The TSAB officer nodded to Ranma. "If I could I would like to actually have you do something similar later on."

"Sounds fun." The marital artist shrugged. "Anything else?"

"No." Chrono waved his hand at Ranma as the teen bounced out of the room. "If you hurry you can make the next transport line to Earth. Nanoha and Fate are probably missing you."

"Thanks!" Ranma called out as the door snapped shut.

Chrono nodded to himself as he looked over the reports, and then looked at the clock with a frown on his face. A few moments later a call flickered onto his screen. Taking a deep breath Chrono reached forward and initiated the call.

"Admiral." Chrono spoke quietly as the screen flickered to an image indicating that it was voice only. "Is there something wrong with the reports that were sent?"

"No actually. We actually have to commend you for your swift handling of the situation. That particular area of space has always been a bit of an issue, and the fact that you managed to resolve it without casualties deserves praise."

"Then might I inquire the reason for the call?" The officer asked.

"Of course. Since the Holy Union has indicated that it is willing to open diplomatic relations we are sending another ship with a trained diplomat. You and the other ship assigned to that sector are going to be reassigned to a more problematic area." The voice sounded vaguely apologetic as it spoke.

"I feel I must point out that the Holy Union has just recently murdered the entire leadership of another nation, and nearly murdered a mage on my own ship right in front of me. Any relations with them should be made carefully, and with arms ready." Chrono pointed out seriously. "And while I appreciate a trained diplomat being on hand, just one ship is not nearly enough to deal with any issues we might have."

"We are low enough on manpower as it is." The reply was swift and uncompromising. "Regime changes happen constantly, and the Holy Union has been remarkably restrained in it's war, casualties non-withstanding. To be frank if they are offering peace we cannot afford to have another front opened. Also, the reports mention some very exotic spells which could give us an answer to many of our manpower shortages."

"Very well." Chrono frowned severly as he spoke. "Thank you for clarifying that for me."

"Of course." A series of files began to flash across Chrono's screen. "I know how hard it is to be reassigned mid-assignment, but as these files can show you we have plenty of other areas a high class warship can be used."

"Very well, Chrono signing off." The officer flipped a switch and settled back into his chair with a frown as he began to review the files he had been sent. An officers work was never done.

* * *

–

–

The TSAB used two main ways to travel between dimensions. The first was by way of star-ship, where the ship itself provided the majority of power. Your typical TSAB warship could transport a squadron of people to an adjacent dimension with little difficulty, but had trouble punching through multiple dimensions at once. This combined with a few high level mages allowed the TSAB to respond to a wide variety of situations with little to no warning. Of course to do this, you needed a star-ship willing to expend a fairly large chunk of it's resources to move you.

That was where the second version of teleportation came into play. Point to point. It required a fairly large amount of power and some very precise calculations, but it was fully possible for a sufficiently skilled mage to dimension hop. The Wolkenritter Knights used this technique frequently. Ranma and his father had used a very similar technique, though the power requirements had forced them to be rather conservative and creative. Used properly a mage had almost no restrictions on where they could go.

This all required power, and calculations that were sometimes very complex and unforgiving. Thus the TSAB had installed a series of 'points' on worlds they were in contact with. Using these points and a large database one could teleport to near anywhere they had setup with sometimes as little as a day of travel.

For the longest time Nanoha and Ranma's planet had not been part of this network. It was out of the way, low key, and had little of interest to the TSAB hierarchy. After the Book of Darkness event this changed. The world was still low priority, but it was finally on the map of the organization, and this meant it needed easy transportation.

Thus Lindy's house was now one of the three points where someone could teleport in from outside of the dimension without difficulty, provided they had proper clearance. Which Ranma had. Of course with his power it wasn't as easy as it could have been. So by the time the teen had finally managed to teleport to the small room they used as the receiving area he was beyond exhausted.

The boy quite literally lurched as he staggered out of the room into the living room, almost tripping over the rug that was on the ground. Then with a loud 'whup' the boy fell face first into the couch facing the big screen TV that Lindy used on occasion for briefings. As Ranma groaned softy, he reflected that he might have overestimated his endurance. He probably couldn't move if his life depended on it right now.

The TV screen flickered to life, and Ranma blinked slightly as he turned. He had been sure that Lindy and Fate were out. The TV shouldn't be turning on like that. Ranma grumbled slightly as he attempted to get up and found his muscles refusing to obey.

With a click the TV flicked to a programmed segment. On the screen flickered two women who looked almost exactly like Fate and Nanoha, both of them smiling at the camera.

"Huh?" Ranma looked at the screen with a confused expression, one that gradually turned into a facinated sort of horror as someone who looked a lot like him came onto the screen, butt naked.

"Why Anma, you look fully charged already." The Nanoha look-alike spoke like she was reading a cue card.

"Must turn off." Ranma attempted to get off the couch and only managed to roll off onto the ground.

"For two lovely ladies like you I'm always locked and loaded." The Ranma look-alike spoke with a ridiculously deep voice.

"Kill me now." The pig-tailed teen groaned from his place on the floor. "If the embarrassment doesn't kill me the bad acting will."

Unfortunately for the pig-tailed teen the remote was no-where to be found, and he found himself unable to muster up the strength to get to his feet. "Nanoha is going to pay." He muttered finally as the video continued to play. "She's the only one that would do this dammit."

* * *

–

–

The day after Ranma returned was a gloriously bright and chipper day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the children going to school were just starting to enter into the school. Fate and Akane were no different, quietly chatting about nothing of consequence as they slowly made their way across the crowded courtyard and into the school. Ukyo waited at the door with a small grin as she waited for the two slow moving girls.

"Fateee!" A cry caused the blond haired girl's head to snap up and to the side. Down the street and into the school yard came Nanoha, grinning maniacally.

Several people blinked at the brown haired girl as she sped through the yard and dodged around the people. "Save me! A pervert is trying to do naughty things to my lithesome and irresistible body!"

"What the?" Fate staggered as Nanoha quite literally glomped onto her. The brown haired girl was in her full out barrier jacket, and it looked rather scuffed up. "Oh no."

"That's not going to save you!" Another voice came from nowhere, and then suddenly there was Ranma in full battle gear, jumping down to where Nanoha was, his face absolutely furious. "You are going to pay, and pay, and PAY."

"Bidaaah!" Nanoha stuck out her tongue and hid behind Fate. "It's not my fault you overexerted yourself and couldn't move."

Ranma's eyebrow twitched as he lunged at Nanoha, just barely missing her human shield. "But it IS your fault that damned movie was playing on continuous loop! I was stuck like that for HOURS!" The teen roared.

"Nyhahah!" Nanoha laughed and ducked around Fate's legs, spinning the poor blond haired girl around.

"Stand still you and take your punishment!" The pig-tailed teen snarled as he nearly knocked over Fate as he attempted to tackled the brown-haired girl.

"Ohh, kinky!" The girl giggled as she crawled around and placed the hapless Fate between her and Ranma again. "I knew that would get you in the mood."

"Gahh! The bad acting!" Ranma held his head in frustration. "I don't even want to know how you found that travesty of a movie."

"Enough." Fate's voice, though quite made both combatants stop dead still.

"Urk. Sorry Fate!" Nanoha's face didn't look quite so confident.

Fate just looked at Nanoha, and then held out her hand with a very serious expression. "Pictures."

Nanoha nodded quickly and produced a large handful of pictures from inside her barrier jacket handing them to Fate. "Yes ma'am."

Fate nodded seriously and then took a step back, sorting through the pictures. Each one depicted a miserable looking Ranma with various expressions on his face, most of them embarrassed. With a queenly nod she took another step back and put away the pictures with a small smile. "You may continue now."

"Yaaa!" Nanoha gave out a girlish screech as she sped off into the distance, Ranma charging after her with a very pissed off expression, his cape billowing behind him.

Akane and Ukyo, who had been watching the scene with incredulous expressions stepped up to where Fate was, and watched as both Nanoha and Ranma disappeared into the distance. The rest of the school, having been watching the scene with varying degrees of amusement and amazement began to file inside.

Akane was the first to break the silence. "She showed him the movie didn't she?"

"Apparently." Fate commented softly as she turned around and began to go into the school. "Mother found him curled up in a ball whimpering and plugging his ears. It never occurred to him to ask Nayru to hack the TV and get it turned off."

Ukyo just shook her head with a strange expression on her face. "So that was Ranma eh?"

Fate nodded in reply.

"He isn't usually that.." Akane began but trailed off. "Actually yes, it's usually like that when he's around."

"It's amusing." The blond haired girl walked into the school sedately, Akane following her.

Ukyo frowned, but shook her head and followed soon after.

* * *

–

–

Ranma didn't actually come back until around lunch time. At that point Fate, Akane and Ukyo had cleared out their usual spot under a tree and away from everyone else. Fate and Akane seemed content to eat quietly and enjoy each others companionship, but Ukyo was fairly humming with energy, something that both Akane and Fate noticed, but thought nothing of.

The boy quite literally dropped in soon after they had started, scuffed and in his typical Chinese silks instead of the armor he had been wearing before. Only Fate seemed to be unruffled by the sudden appearance.

"Ahhh," The boy sighed and lounged on his stomach right next to the blond. "That was satisfying."

"Really now?" Fate replied with a small smile as she patted Ranma on the head and picked out something sweet from her bento, casually feeding it to the lounging boy. "What did you do to Nanoha this time."

"Managed ta tie her upsidedown in a construction yard with steel wiring. She'll get out in about an hour." Ranma grinned smugly as he chewed. "The face she made."

"You got a picture right?" Fate asked as she began to eat again.

Ranma rolled over and handed a single photo to Fate. "There ya go."

"Ahem," Ukyo coughed loudly. "Heyya Ranchan."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked with a clueless expression as he tilted his head to look at the other boy. "Do I know you?"

Ukyo's eyebrow twitched as he looked at Ranma. Then he sighed and whipped out his portable grill, heating it in a matter of second and throwing on a small glob of dough.

"That's Ukyo," Akane blinked at the boy. "He recently transferred here and has been hanging around with us."

"Ahh." Ranma nodded thoughtfully.

"There!" The brown-haired boy nodded triumphantly and threw out a small okonomiyaki with 'Ranchan' and a heart made on it. "Now do you remember me?"

"I knew you?" Ranma sat up and quickly chomped down on the Japanese pizza, finishing it seconds.

"Jackass!" Ukyo growled. "We played around when we were young dammit."

Frowning the teen concentrated. "I honestly got no idea what you're talkin' about."

"You and that jackass of a father took my father yatta! You were supposed to take me along!" Ukyo was fairly yelling. "You WAVED at me as you rode off."

Ranma hit his head a few times in confusion. "Musta been awhile ago. Huh, don't really remember much before meetin' Nanoha actually."

"Die!" Ukyo's temper finally snapped and out came a massive spatula.

With a titanic slam it just missed where Ranma had been lounging. Instead of hitting the teen though, it simply imbedded itself in the ground as the teen casually rolled out of the way. With an almost nonchalant expression the boy danced away from the enraged Ukyo, casually moving out of the furious and massive strikes.

"Ukyo! What are you doing?" Akane screeched as she got to her feet.

Fate frowned and got to her feet casually stopping Akane from charging in. Brushing herself off she began to walk towards where Ranma and Ukyo were dancing around, Ukyo gradually getting even more angry by the casual way Ranma was treating his attack.

"You jackass! You forgot! You Forgot?" His voice raised up in a shrill shriek.

Ranma just shrugged as he placed his hands in his pockets. "Really man, I know I'm amazing and all, but I can't remember everyone I met when I was a brat."

"Enough you two." Fate's voice went ignored by Ukyo, but Ranma stiffened slightly.

"He ruined my life! The only way I'm stooping is if I die!" Ukyo's eyes teared up slightly as he brought his spatula down edge first where Ranma was standing perfectly still.

Fate just sighed, and one moment she was behind Ukyo, and the next she was blocking the strike with Bardiche. There had been no sense of movement, no warning. Ukyo's spatula creaked slight as the boy put force into it, but Bardiche didn't even twitch.

"Enough." Fate's voice was calm as always, but instead of comforting there was a subtle sense of a gathering storm.

"Jackass!" Ukyo pulled her spatula back and made to swing.

Bardiche went forward, forcing Ukyo to take a step back. Then the device glowed softly and spoke. "Lightning Bind." Bands of magic snapped around Ukyo and the boy tottered as his legs were bound together, falling to the ground.

"I think we need to speak privately." Fate lowered Bardiche, and then she, Ranma, and Ukyo vanished from the school grounds.

Akane frowned and stomped her feet as she was left behind.

* * *

–

–

The color of the world shifted as Fate quietly and expertly projected the dimensional barrier. Behind her Ranma glanced around him quickly with disinterest, mostly to be sure that no one beside the three of them had been caught in the spell. On the ground Ukyo looked around with wide eyes as everyone around them disappeared in a wash of gray scale color.

"W-what did you do?" He asked nervously.

Fate made a gesture and the bindings around Ukyo came off. "I prefer not to make a scene."

"Tch." Ranma spat sitting down on the ground. "Not as if there wasn't one already."

"True," Fate conceded with a nod. "Still, Ukyo, you say Ranma and his father stole your yatta cart?"

"That bastard used to come by all the time when I was cooking outside with my dad." Ukyo got to his feet and rubbed the placed where he had been held. "We used to get into fights all the time, if he won he got to eat free."

"Sounds like you Ranma." Fate glanced back at the boy with humor.

Ranma scratched his head. "I really can't remember." Finally the boy shrugged and sprawled out on the ground. "My memory gets kinda fuzzy before we first met Fate."

"Ah..." The blond look changed to one of regret. "That's not surprising."

"Excuse me?" Ukyo glared at the two. "What the hell are you talking about."

"Meh," The pig-tailed boy waved his hand in the air at Fate. "Go ahead."

"Ranma had a bit of an accident around that point." Fate pointed out delicately. "He's lucky that he only lost some of his memory."

"'Parently my soul got scarred too, whatever that means." The person in question spoke up.

"That.. Might explain something." Fate pursed her lips. "It's irrelevant now though."

Ukyo's face twitched and he sighed. "All right then, since the jackass forgot I will spell it out to you both. We were supposed to get married." Both Ranma and Fate looked at Ukyo blankly.

With a put upon sigh the boy loosened his uniform top to reveal a series of white bandaged around her torso. "I'm a girl you idiots."

"Ooooooh." Both Ranma and Fate said in unison.

The blond haired teen frowned then. "Weren't you supposed to be enguaged to Akane?"

Ranma twitched in response. "I think so, but not like I'm gonna go through with it."

Ukyo frowned at the two. "Well then he can marry me!"

"I'm not sure.." Fate muttered as she looked over Ukyo. "Really, weren't you trying to beat him earlier?"

"Well, I can't very well blame him for being injured!" The woman chirped. "Though if you want I can go back to doing it."

Ranma's mouth opened and closed for a moment before he frowned and sat up. The teen leaned his head on his hand and began to think. "Normally I would say no just 'cause."

"But you still have that ultimatum your father gave you." Fate pointed out calmly.

"What?" Ukyo looked from one to the other.

"Pops wants me to get married, he's not picky about who." Ranma waved a hand and got to his feet. With a great sigh he placed his hands behind his head and turned away. "I should just marry you or Nanoha and call it a day."

Fate giggled as Ukyo gaped at the proclamation. "If you ask Nanoha you know she's going smack you on general principle. You know she want's it done on one knee with a diamond ring."

"Yeah, yeah." Ranma chuckled at the image. "Can you imagine me doing it?"

"Tell me if you are." Fate replied calmly.

"Hold on a second dammit!" Ukyo shrieked. "I'm the one who's engaged!"

"Erm, your cute, but not really my type ya know?" The pig-tailed martial artist replied casually.

"All right, thats it!" Ukyo dove for her spatula. "I'm gonna beat you till you are flatter than my okonomiyaki!"

"Let's not." Fate calmly aimed her hand. "Please restrain yourself."

Ukyo gripped her spatula with both hands and looked at Fate. One part of her wanted to attack, but the more reasonable part of her realized how much damage the dainty looking girl could do with one hand. "Sugar, I like you, but this is between Ranchan and me."

"Listen lady." Ranma looked at Ukyo calmly and with little emotion. "Maybe if I remembered you, you'd have a chance. Right now all I see is some jealous psycho chick."

Ukyo's eyes teared up. "You and your father ruined my life. Do you think I could forget that?"

"Dammit." Ranma growled and turned away.

"Ranma." Fate spoke calmly. "Let me deal with it."

The boy took a deep breath and began to walk away. "Kay."

"Don't you dare!" Ukyo began to shriek as Ranma disappeared. "Get BACK HERE!"

"Please stop." Ukyo growled and began to charge at Fate as the blond spoke. "This is not healthy for you."

"Jackass!" The brown-haired girl shrieked as Fate let loose a massive blast of yellow light.

For a moment there was no sound, and then Ukyo's slightly crispy body slumped to the ground, and the girl drifted out of consciousness. Fate walked forward and frowned seriously, bending over to check that she had done no serious damage. She looked at the other girl for a long time before sighing deeply and making a mental call to Nanoha to get the Wolkenritter to pick up the downed teen.

She could probably get some counseling for Ukyo somewhere in the TSAB as a favor. It wasn't the best solution, but it was perhaps the one that had the most chance of success.

* * *

–

–

"Well, the Japanese government is washing it's hands of the entire matter." Lindy stated to Fate as she hung up her phone.

The blonde frowned, looking up from where she had been doing homework in the living room. "I would have hoped that they would have at least gotten into contact with Ukyo's father."

Lindy sighed as she sat down on the couch across from her daughter. "The style of magic that people use on this world takes too long to learn conventionally, so the people capable of being a problem are too rare. It leads to them either letting us deal with it, or having them police themselves. It works, most of the time. Then you get incidents like the one with Ukyo who's been basically abandoned by everyone."

Fate sighed and set down her pen. "Is it possible to get her help from the TSAB like I had originally planned?"

"She's not really part of our organization." Lindy pursed her lips and looked off into the distance in thought. "Perhaps, but we would have to take her off world."

"Considering that Ukyo has demonstrated considerable hostility." The blonde reasoned out slowly. "It might be best to keep her away from anything that might set her off in the first place."

Lindy nodded. "I'll look into it later. For now Ukyo is being held in a small holding facility." The officer gave a bitter snort. "The only reason we can do that in the first place is because the Japanese have abandoned her."

"Weren't you the one that taught me about politics being like this?" Fate replied softly.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean I like it." Lindy just sighed and leaned back on the couch. For a moment there was just the sound of Fate, who had picked up her pen and begun working again. "So tell me, hows this new school of yours? The rumor mill must be roaring because of what happened."

"I finally do believe I have proven to my satisfaction that there is someone inciting some of the nastier rumors." Fate replied as she concentrated. "Whoever it is has been encouraging the boys to be far less restrained than they should be. They've also been distributing pictures of the more attractive women in the school. To be honest I would have brought this to the attention of the local authorities." Fate paused and flipped over the sheet she had been working on. "But this entire Ukyo incident made me reconsider."

"Fate, dear." Lindy groaned out and rubbed at her forehead. "You're supposed to relax at school, not pursue another investigation. You have enough on your plate with the Scaglietti case."

"I'm not as bad as Nanoha, don't worry." Fate glanced up at Lindy and smiled warmly. "In fact I've been sparing occasionally with Akane. If I keep at her speed she's a relative challenge with a sword."

"Please tell me that girl has actually taken a break." The teal haired woman asked with a pleading expression. "Ranma's technique might have allowed her to recover, but it can't negate the stress that got her into the problem in the first place."

Fate nodded and put away the sheet of homework she had been working on, facing her adopted mother. "Hayate has been working on that actually." The blond twitched slightly in remembrance. "Though I'm not very fond of the way they have been unwinding."

"What, did they find another porno about you all?" Lindy teased with a wicked smile. "I still remember poor Ranma muttering on the ground in front of the TV."

Fate grimaced slightly. "Actually apparently they've taken up watching pro-wrestling. Somehow they have Signum joining them as well."

"Well.. There could be worse things to do." Lindy blinked a few times as a thought came up. "Didn't Signum and Vita get those strange amulets awhile ago? The magics enchanted on those things were exotic."

"Yes, from what Nanoha says Vita's been using it frequently. Hayate said it was something about Vita making up for being the 'loli', but I'm afraid she didn't exactly elaborate." Fate nodded as she folded her hands in her lap.

"Your generation has all the fun." Lindy giggled in amusement. "So, now that we've talked about your friends, your school, and everything else. We still haven't talked about you my dear."

The blond shrugged in reply. "I've been well mother."

Lindy frowned. "That's hardly an answer dear. Tell me, any boys in mind, or maybe girls?"

Fate flushed slightly. "Please don't ask that. Nanoha does that interrogation already."

"Ahh yes." The teal-haired woman gave a gusty sigh. "You, Nanoha, and Ranma have always been so close. Why if I didn't know any better I would have said that you were in a torrid three-way affair."

"Well," Fate coughed and flushed deep red as she got to her feet. "I think it's time for dinner." The blond began to walk out to the kitchen.

"Hey." Lindy blinked as her daughter hurriedly began to walk out of the room. "What sort of answer is that?"

"What sounds good today?" Fate asked from in the kitchen, banging a few pots loudly.

The TSAB officer frowned as she looked to where Fate was hiding in the kitchen. "You know Fate dear, if I were a more suspicious woman I would think something was up."

"NoTHing's up mother." Fate squeaked midway through her statement. "Nanoha is just sending me something rather embarrassing. It has nothing to do wiTH your question." The teen squeaked again as she dropped a pot.

Lindy just looked at her daughter with a suspicious expression. "Fine then. Don't think this is dropped Fate dear."

–

–

–

The good weather couldn't have lasted forever. Days after Ranma returned it began to pour mightily. The thunder boomed and the lightning shot across the sky. Deep in sleep, Nanoha tossed and turned as she dreamed. Normally her dreams were quiet affairs of battle and tactics where she had Raging Heart use a small un-intrusive technique to assist in her understanding of battle. Tonight however things were a bit different.

The brown-haired girl shot up in a cold sweat and looked around the room in a frantic matter as if there were enemies in the shadow. Taking a deep breath and clutching her head in pain she quickly rolled out of bed and grabbed her device. Eyes haunted, she staggered out of the room and into the bathroom joining her bedroom. The faucets were turned on cold, and the sink filled up. Finally the girl splashed water onto her face and just looked into the mirror for a moment before turning off the faucets.

Taking a deep breath the teen focused and clutched at her head as the psychic channel she shared with Ranma flared to life again. Normally their bond was the standard transmission, sending verbal messages. Ranma however had a talent for it, and could send far more information than simple voice. Usually it was a good thing, allowing Fate, Nanoha, and Ranma to have a far closer relationship than their distance would allow. That all changed when one of them had a nightmare. If it was one of the girls Ranma would get blasted with it due to his sensitivity, but he could usually tone it out. When it was Ranma however, both Fate and Nanoha had little recourse but to ride it out and attempt to wake him up. Neither girl begrudged the boy it, but if there was one thing the boy had it was plenty of nightmare material.

"Gahh." Nanoha grit her teeth and focused into Raging Heart as she found herself watching something that broke her heart every time.

_The rain was coming down heavily as the red-head ran through the trees, clutching the blond dog and the ferret closely. She knew her pursuers were close behind her, but there was no real way to fight like this against that many people. Thunder cracked overhead and the girl cursed to herself as she spotted the clearing up ahead. They were too close to go onto open ground, but there wasn't an option right now. Perhaps there would be a way to lose them further up._

_As she got through the trees her heart sank. Dead end. It was a dead drop, a good hundred feet down into what looked like a shallow river. She could take the drop easy, if she was the only one. The ferret in between her breasts chattered and the girl grit her teeth. There was no real way, perhaps there was a ledge to get some footing on._

_A shout from behind made her whirl and a dozen arrows flew through the wet sky,briefly illuminated by the lightning. With a grimace the redhead turned and ducked over the dog she was holding, feeling several arrows glance off her super-humanly hard skin before one got enough purchase to lodge into her back._

"_Stay there, I got you." The girl dropped the ferret and twisted her body to wrench the barbed arrow out._

_Turning to face her pursuers, the girl watched as half a dozen women walked out of the forest, some of them clutching bows, others clutching weapons of various sorts. They shouted something un-intelligable, and the red-head snarled at them all as the blood dripped down her arrow torn clothing. Finally one girl charged forward as the rest of them cocked arrows._

_The red-head just smirked arrogantly as the girl charged, and the arrows soared over her head right at the red-head. Even though the dark rainy sky concealed the shots they still all missed as the girl's hands blurred impossibly fast. Then the one who had been charging got into her opponents range. She was wielding a sword, the red-head noted abstractly as her body arced around the blade casually. Not as if she was able to hit with it, another part noted. Casually, almost like the red-head was playing, the sword was knocked away from the holder. The holder's body slid back soon after, the woman slammed back with a graceful and vicious kick._

_There was naught a sound but the thundering rain for a moment, and then the overhang started to rumble and crack from the combined weight of the people on it as well as the torrential downpour. The red-heads eyes grew wide and she turned and lunged at the dog and ferret she had set down before. The ground itself began to slide down into the water as the red-head gripped the dog and ferret tight._

_The next few moments were a blurring, tumbling, terrifying mess, and then there was water. The red-head struggled and gasped above the water and she lunged to a clearing next to the river she had tumbled into, the water bashing at her body mercilessly._

_With a cough she jumped out of the water with a fantastic leap, and then set down the ferret and dog as gently as possible. The dog whimpered in pain, but the two looked alive. The rain started to slacken off, but just as the red-head thought everything was going to be all right, the hunting party showed up._

_This time it was all of them, not the paltry half-dozen women, this was a good twenty or more of them. The red-head coughed out some water and grimaced as she looked at all of them clutching their weapons. With a rustle she stood, clutching two objects in her hands._

_The beach was sandy, unsuitable for fighting. There was a river and a clifface behind her. There was a rocky area to her left, and more beach to there right. There was nowhere to run. There was nowhere to hide._

"_I suppose we could get along this once?" The red-head muttered quietly to the objects in her hand._

"_Okay."_

"_Rodger."_

_Two weapons appeared in the red-head's hands, one an elaborate white and gold spear, and the other a simple and deadly looking black halberd, and she grinned a smile with all teeth as hundreds of arrows were loosed at once, far more than twenty bows could possible send. The rain was clearing up, but the arrows were still coming._

"_Defense." The black weapon intoned, and a shield appeared in the air, stopped the arrows dead in their tracks._

_With a cry several of the hunting party surged forth, attempting to attack while the shield was up in the air. With a sweep of the spear the red-head denied their advance, and the shield above them dropped. The red-head twirled almost elegantly, out and around came the black halberd to make them back up still farther. Then she danced back a few steps and held out the spear, point first._

"_Fire." The white weapon spoke, and a blast of pink shot out in a blinding light, and just as quickly shut off, leaving the entire group that attacked on their backs and out of the fight, sizzling slightly._

_The hunters in the tree-tops cried out, and more charged. The sun started to shine, and then around arced the black halberd. Then a spray of blood and another cry as several more warriors were felled._

_Just as the red-head started to advance on the warriors in the tree-tops, a blur shot out from the tree-line and a she was forced to block for the first time in the fight as a wrinkled old figure's staff impacted into the haft of the white and gold spear. The staff of the old-one blurred, and the red-head was forced to call up another barrier to deflect the attack. Then, on some unseen signal the barrier dropped and out swept the black halberd, only to miss as the wrinkled old crone danced back with a cackle._

_Out pointed the white staff. "Divine buster."_

_And a spray of blood erupted as the staff of the wrinkled old woman stabbed into the forearm of the red-head. Somehow, someway the woman had anticipated the reaction from the red-head and had managed to make an attack. The staff pulled back, and the red-head snarled in half pain, half rage. The black halberd swept down and into the ground where the crone had been, instead in a blur of motion the crone was just out of reach, smirking at the red-head's efforts._

"_Calculating." The white staff intoned._

"_Coordinating." The black halberd seemed to agree._

_The red-head swept out her weapons in a whirl, and the crone danced away, darting forward only to dodge back as the red-head twisted around in impossible directions. The fight was obvious in it's lopsidedness, for while the red-head could twist and turn impossibly fast, the crone could anticipate, and had just enough speed and knowledge to know exactly where to strike._

"_Conclusion achieved." The black device hissed and clanked._

_The white staff hissed as well as it ejected a small cartridge. "Stress within tolerable levels."_

"_Initiating revised Kaleidoscope." Both devices hissed and clanged as they ejected another set of cartridges and two whirling levels of magical sigils began to revolve around the red-head's feet._

_The world shifted and twisted as both the crone and the red-head dropped through the ground and someone appeared midair. The black halberd clashed against the staff of the crone, once, and then again as the world itself twisted and turned impossibly. Like the Kaleidoscope it was named after the forms of the fighters twisted across the sky in a dizzy, disorientating mess. Then the crone crashed to the ground, staff broken, and body beaten._

_With a gasp the red-head slumped to the ground nearby, using the halberd as support, one hand still clutching the spear and pointing it at the hunting party. Then there was a hand on her shoulder._

"You shouldn't have to kill for me Ranma." Nanoha spoke and sent softly, the same lines she had spoken at that point. "I never wanted you to bloody your hands for me, we never did."

"_Sometimes it not that easy." _Ranma's voice came over their bond, quiet and solemn.

Nanoha sighed and looked into the mirror with a sad expression. "And tomorrow we have to have you relive it once again, don't we?"

The girl was referring to what had probably set off the nightmare in the first place. The best agreement to get the amazon women appeased had involved a series of quiet talks, and a very serious match between their best fighter and Ranma. There was to be no death-blows in the fight, but it was still a bit too close to home for the pig-tailed marital artist.

"_It's a challenge match with the old crone, not a duel to the death."_ The reply came soft and uncertain, a far cry from Ranma's usually confident tone.

"_Not to your mind." _Short and brisk in tone.

The reply was just as short back._ "I will deal with it."_

"_We are both going to be there for you still. Remember that while you are fighting."_

There was no reply to that. Just a warm feeling. One that all three of them knew and shared with each other.

–

–

"Are you sure about this great-grandmother?" The purple haired girl asked nervously as she looked at across the field that had been designated.

The TSAB had at first assumed that the Amazons were small, isolated and unsupported by the local government. Instead it had they found that the Chinese had a near fanatical dedication to their indigenous tribe. Thus the current circumstances were the result of some rather intense negotiations between the amazonian women and the TSAB. Politics, and the disproportionate power that the women held had allowed them to maintain a surprisingly beneficial stance diplomatically, and the TSAB was loath to get into actual conflict with a native government. Prior experience had proven that dimensional travelers were only welcome when they were unobtrusive and quiet, and having one of the more prominent world powers irritated would quickly poison the relationship with the rest of them.

Fortunately the Amazons wanted little, and their request had somehow managed to bypass Lindy, who would have attempted to renegotiate, and gotten to a higher up. What it amounted to was an honor duel between Ranma and Cologne, the eldest and best fighter of them warrior women. No device for Ranma, no weapons for Cologne, and no lethal strikes on either side. Ultimately it was a play, a way of saving face for both sides, and a way to sweep the entire incident under the table.

It didn't make it easy for Ranma though, who still had a few issues with being hunted like an animal across China. Almost ironically, it was the teen who would have more trouble holding back dangerous attacks, while the one who had lost several of her people was almost serene as she gazed across the field.

"You know as well as I do that the people back at home are howling for something." Cologne chided her granddaughter gently. "The destroyed half our village and the boy in particular managed to kill several of our people. This is the least damaging path for both of us."

Shampoo shuddered as she gazed across the barren field. "That boy is terrifying to me great-grandmother."

"Hush child." Cologne sighed and began to walk forward, her tiny shriveled body creaking as it moved. "This old woman has far more fight than either you or those 'mages' know."

The current battle field was a soccer field, or more accurately a dimensionally shifted soccer field. It precluded ambush tactics on either side, and made for a fairly well defined area of battle. On one side was the Amazons, or more accurately a male fighter named Mouse a female fighter named Shampoo, and their leader, elder Cologne. On the other side was an actual crowd, Hayate and her knights had shown up to keep an eye on everything as well as Fate, Nanoha, and Ranma.

"You better kick her ass Saotome." Vita called out as the pig-tailed teen walked onto the field.

There was no referee, no real rules aside from it being not to the death. Just a field of grass and two combatants who had far too much history already. The two stopped within spitting distance of each other and the old woman gave a small nod of her head, white aged hair swaying softly.

"Do try to keep up." She gave a small cackle.

Ranma spat out off to the side, pulling his hands out of his pockets and getting into an actual stance, something that was very rare for him. "Let's get this farce over with."

The old woman's face crinkled up into a smile and then there was a blur. Ranma snapped his hands out to the side to deflect the tiny fist and then with a loud shout slammed his fist right down where she was. The ground beneath him cracked from the strange sound impact, but the old woman just wove around it, dancing up his arm to attempt to kick him right in the head.

Ranma threw himself back, narrowly avoiding the tiny woman's strike. The teen twisted so that he had a hand on the ground and then whirled his feet is a wild movement in an attempt to quite literally punt the woman away.

The attack succeeded, knocking the woman back, but as Ranma got to his feet quickly he found one arm dead from something the woman had done while inside his guard. With a pause both fighters evaluated the damage done. Then on some unseen signal the old woman blurred again.

"Not this time!" Ranma growled out and a quick magical sigil appeared under his feet. Holding out his one good had a small sigil appeared in front of it and a like a gunshot a burst of air slammed through the air in Cologne's general direction.

The old woman was blown back and Ranma growled as he knelt down and gripped his dead arm. Muttering vague obscenities he focused on the inner pathways of his arm. The healing technique he knew, and had taught Nanoha was an obscenely brutal technique which was taught by deliberately injuring oneself with something as painful as possible, while focusing with a particular mantra. It took time and effort, and learning it usually involved fire. However, once it was learned it allowed one to recover from things that would cripple normal people.

Theoretically Ranma could focus and use the technique to repair himself from nearly anything, like what the crone had done to his arm. He just needed time, and perhaps a bit of reckless luck.

The attack came quickly, and moments too late to stop him from repairing himself. A thousand strikes in a second, all of them aimed all over his body. If the arm had been dead still that would have ended the match. Instead the teen was knocked back, and across the field.

He rolled and got to his feet, only to spot what looked like a dozen clones of the old women dashing towards him, all of them cackling at the boy. With a curse Ranma invoked one of the few techniques he could pull off without aid, and quite literally disappeared through the ground. The copies of the crone looked around the empty field for a moment and then looked up just as quickly.

There onto a magical field stood Ranma muttering to himself as he calculated. The sigil beneath his feet layered once, then twice. Then the ground where the crone was standing shifted. Quickly the crone moved, only to watch as small divots of the ground disappeared. Above her Ranma panted and then dropped from the sky onto the ground.

He landed gracefully and smiled at the crone as she charged once again. The crone frowned and stopped suddenly. Then blurred to the side as what sounded like a cannonball slammed into the ground in front of her. Above both combatants a series of small magical sigils opened up and then like tiny meteors small bits of the very ground Ranma had gathered slammed into the ground around the teen.

The boy blurred and then he was on the offensive. He struck, and the crone danced back, and a small meteor impacted right where she was. The impact stunned her for a critical second. That was when Ranma kicked her into the air, and with a grimace invoked the final portion of his technique, throwing a half dozen bits of ground sped to the speed of a cannonball at where she was in the air.

Impossibly the woman recovered, and the half-dozen meteors disappeared as they were shattered as the woman twisted around in the air, and drew what looked like a whirlwind around her like a cloak. With a growl Ranma focused once more, forming another magical sigil.

"Accelerated Gatling." Ranma's fists blurred, and the air cracked like a thousand gunshots.

The windshield didn't hold up long from the attack, and the old woman looked surprised briefly as the teen yelled as he slammed his fist forward.

"IMPACT!" Like thunder a massive shock-wave of compressed air went into the air and impacted into the airborne Cologne.

The woman balled herself up as the attack approached, and she was battered around like a rag-doll. For an endless moment she hung in the air, and then her form slammed into the ground. There was no sound for a brief instant, and then the woman got out of the crater she had made.

"Oooh." She gave a soft moan and cracked her back. "That was a good warmup sonny. Ready for the real thing now?"

"You have gotta be kiddin' me." The pig-tailed teen muttered wearily.

The crone's face wrinkled into a smile as she looked at Ranma. "Really my boy, all of that was suitably impressive, but if it can't finish me what do you have left?"

"Enough to beat you." Ranma growled out and got into another stance as he got ready to charge.

"Kids these days." The woman sighed and began to walk away. "You win then."

"What the?" The pig-tailed teen yelled out. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Really my boy, it's quite simple. You win, and I'm going home." Cologne smirked at the martial-artist. "Aren't you happy? You defeated the premere fighter in our tiny little village."

Ranma blinked a few times as he stared dumbly at the woman. "What the HELL! Get back here so I can kick your ass!"

"Come along granddaughter." The old woman walked off the field as Ranma attempted to stomp after her, only to be stopped by Nanoha and Fate.

"What are you doing elder?" The teen asked with a completely confused expression.

The old woman cackled softly. "All those fancy lights and funny circles. This must be what they thought when they first saw the power of a nuke. Something that could change the face of the world."

"I don't understand." Shampoo finally said as the left the dimensionally shifted soccer field.

"Tell me granddaughter, how are you at math?"

–

–

_The following is the unofficial report of what has been vaguely referred to as the 'amazon incident'. Due to the sensitive subject matter the official report has several areas deliberately left vague, and much of it is unverifiable. The entire incident needed to be resolved quickly and quietly due to the rather secretive desires of the parties involved, as such the full extent of the incident itself was kept off record by request of all parties._

_The official reports state that due to a conflict at the 'amazon village' the Chinese government contacted the TSAB through prearranged channels in their upper echelons, demanding an explanation and reparations. Following investigation the officers involved were disciplined, and proper reparations were given involving an 'honor match.' Once the match was completed the entire incident was quietly dropped and there was no further conflict with the TSAB about the matter._

_Unofficially the incident is far less clear-cut. After Officer Takamachi suffered serious damage to her linker core due to incident 23A92HF (See Scaglietti related incidents) she lost almost all motor control and conditioning. The resulting physical therapy was projected to take at least a year, perhaps more. This apparently angered the civilian Ranma Saotome, who proceeded to forcible abduct the Officer from the medical wing. Enforcer Testarossa then followed the two and later informed the medical doctors that Officer Takamachi would be under Saotome's care from then on ._

_Due to the fact that all three of the mages have been reported as being abnormally close and skilled the arrangement was accepted under severe protest from almost every doctor (See attached forms for full medical diagnosis and protests). The three mages then disappeared on the non-administered world that was Saotome's and Takamachi's home-world. Apparently Saotome convinced the other two mages to travel along a relatively isolated area in China to allow for some very extreme recovery techniques._

_What happened next is unverifiable due to the isolated area and the unreliability of devices when their master's well being is involved (Intelligent Devices are capable of adjusting their internal records and will do so if sufficiently worried about their hosts). According to Raging Heart's internal records Officer Takamachi's health slowly started to improve, then stuttered at around half her previous healthy state. Then the Officers health suddenly began to recover at a rate unheard of. What should have been a long painful process had instead been almost completely bypassed. (Note: the technique that accomplished this is suicidally dangerous, and currently several departments are working on imitating the effects without the frankly insane training method detailed by Raging Heart. Addendum: The technique fosters a sense of invincibility and is only useful as a recovery tool, it is no substitute for not getting injured in the first place.)_

_It should be noted that the three mages were traveling along the country of China while performing this feat. Once Officer Takamachi was fully recovered she apparently desired to train some with her allies, and the three continued deeper into China. At which point due to the lack of a native guide they ran afoul of a local hazard called Jusenkyo (see attached report detailing effects and weapon possibilities curse is water based with hot and cold triggers, curse also reconfigures the linker core when triggered and causes severe interference with most mage styles.)_

_Due to Jusenkyo's interference with a mage's linker core the three were unable to properly gather assistance, and were also considerably weakened, with only Saotome being fully capable. At this point the devices were being carried mostly by Saotome, and were working full time to decipher and counter the Jusenkyo's curse. (It should be noted that Testarossa and Takamachi would have both been capable even in their cursed form if the curse didn't interfere with the linker core.) The record of what happened next is inconsistent._

_The three mages made their way on foot to the 'Village of Warrior Women' to rest and hopefully manage to identify and remove the curse effects. (At this time there were no other TSAB officers that were in contact range.) There they negotiated with the leaders there and were allowed to spend the night. During the night there was a conflict brought about some unidentified cultural misunderstanding. The situation escalated and during the night almost half the village was razed, the three mages were driven out, and a hunter party from the village was sent out._

_From here on the reports get even more muddied, the device records mostly have reports on attempted to re-synch up with their hosts and contradicting sensory input, they spent the time quite literally half blind and the only coherent report is from Saotome. Saotome is considered by many TSAB officers to be uncommonly tough, vicious, and nearly impossible to detect, and any statements from him are suspect at best. These Warrior Women, or Amazons were able to track him down and ambush him and the other incapacitated officers repeatedly. Since this was during the middle of the rainy season both Takamachi and Testarossa were unable to assist, and in fact the weakness to water and being disarmed allowed the Amazons to quickly and efficiently neutralize their contributions. Raging Heart and Bardiche were eventually able to counteract some of the effects of the curse, but they were unable to do so constantly until after the entire incident._

_It should be noted that the Amazons are considered valuable and irreplaceable military resources by the Chinese government. It should also be noted that the Amazons inform us that the hunting party had orders to capture and restrain the mages, and not outright kill as Saotome repeatedly stated. Both parties are suspect in this, but the final battle that drove off the hunting party is indisputable._

_Saotome has already been noted for being uncommonly tough and vicious. When cornered near the border of China he became even more-so. The mage was able to outright kill three of the twenty-five pursuers, and was able to injure half of the rest, crippling several of them. After which Officer Takamachi and Enforcer Testarossa were able to force a retreat._

_The three mages spent about a week hiding in natural hot-spring before they finally concluded that there would be no more pursuit and returned to Japan where they immediately reported to the TSAB. At this point Officer Harlaown became involved as a mediator and the official report can be referred to._

_

* * *

_

**_AN:A bit late, bu_**_**t here it is, hopefully I can continue to write and maybe finish this somehow.**  
_


	14. Chapter 14

While it had obscenely good funding, the high school Ranma attended was widely considered one of the worst schools in the city. This was due to a wide variety of factors, but it all boiled down to the fact that it had some of the worst discipline problems period. It lacked the vicious gang violence that plagued the normal schools, but it more than made up for it with the random acts of property damage and total disrespect that the teachers got. Attendance was also widely noted to be horrid, and the only thing that made the school any good was it's top notch sports teams.

All of these problems came about because the area around it was a haven for a wide variety of martial arts schools who were both eccentric and highly skilled. Most students knew at least one style of martial arts, and there were several that would be considered skilled in any other place. The entire school was a place where the conventional schooling was a facade, and the real learning was outside of it.

By contrast Nanoha's school was the top funded school in the city. It had the best teachers, and graduation from the school almost guaranteed the students choice of colleges. This was a fairly big deal in Japan. Nanoha's school actually had a waiting list obscenely long. The school had no records of violence, and it's students uniformly had the best average scores in the city. In short, if there had been a perfect high school this would be it. Even the girls that attended the school were said to be top notched, called 'princesses' by other students.

Nanoha would have traded it all to in a heartbeat if she hadn't had family living nearby. The high school was safe, boring, and while warm and friendly, it somehow lacked the adrenaline that Ranma added just by being there. Fate had made the school tolerable, and sometimes even fun, but the blonde had decided to transfer to Ranma school. To be honest Nanoha didn't blame the girl, Ranma had a bad tendency to get into something problematic, and lacked the diplomacy to actually get himself out of it.

It still left Nanoha with Suzuka, Alisa, and Hayate. They were outstanding friends, and Hayate was especially dear to her, but they weren't Ranma and Fate. It wasn't so bad in school, but the other girls had their own lives, and they didn't always catch the cues when Nanoha was overworking herself. It had taken awhile for Nanoha to admit that to herself, that she needed to be watched, that she had a self destructive work ethic.

So Nanoha went to school, and visited Ranma and Fate regularly. It made them happy, and it prevented Nanoha from burying herself in work. It also strained her relationship with the rest of the class. Alisa, Suzuka, and Hayate knew the reasons and approved, but the rest of the class' opinion of her and Fate hadn't been helped by the fact that Fate had transferred to Ranma's school.

"So I hear that Fate destroyed half the school again." The rumor made Nanoha's hand clench a bit on the pencil. "Really, I didn't think she was such a delinquent. I suppose that's why she was such friends with the hellion."

The brown haired girl took a deep breath, and looked forward at the teacher. It wasn't worth getting in trouble for it. Class was almost done anyway.

"Tch, I hear she's already leading half the boys on in the school." Was the quiet response. "I didn't think she was like that when she was here, shows what I know."

That made Nanoha's pencil creek as she gripped it. She grit her teeth and restrained the dark impulse to blast the idiots that were whispering.

"Excuse me!" Alisa's voice rang out loud and obnoxious. "I am TRYING to pay attention to class."

The teacher's gaze snapped back to where the voice had came from. "No yelling in class." He looked from Alisa to the two rumor mongers. "And don't think I didn't hear your whispering too."

Nanoha flashed a grateful smile at Alisa and put her attention back on the school work, and simulating combat with Raging Heart. The rest of the class passed without incident, and the bell rang soon afterward. Today had been a half day, so most of the students rushed out to get to their own life. Nanoha and her friends hung back to talk.

"Thank you." Nanoha finally said as she looked out the large windows that dominated the classroom. "I was that close from blasting them, secrecy be damned."

"I was that close from smacking them myself." Alisa sniffed in disdain. "Dear Fate transfers to be with Ranma, and the rest of the school starts smearing her good name."

"I think.." Suzuka twiddled her fingers as she looked at the other girls. "That I would have done it as well."

"Well I think that's something we can agree on." Hayate giggled as she shouldered her bag. "Actually, now that I think about it, why don't we visit the two. Nanoha has been hogging their time to herself."

"Well, not everyone can fly there." Nanoha smirked at the other girls. "Or in Hayate's case not everyone can stop mothering her family."

Hayate sniffed in mock disdain. "I will have you know that my knights are perfectly able to take care of themselves. Though I do make sure that Shamal is never allowed near the kitchen."

"Isn't Vita going out and clubbing every night?" Nanoha wondered out loud. "I mean, ever since she got that necklace she's been abusing her adult form all over the place."

Hayate looked off into the distance with a slightly demented grin on her face. "I don't mind that, she's absolutely stunning as an adult."

"Hayate is so pervy." Suzuka giggled as the four teenagers began to walk out of the school and to a local train. "Almost as bad as Nanoha."

The brown-haired mage looked slightly incredulous. "I mean really, I'm offended, I have taste! Compared to Nanoha I am an absolute paragon of virtue!"

"How many people have you groped?" Nanoha teased with a smirk as she paid for their tickets. "I'm sure you have a list somewhere on you."

"That reminds me, I need to test out Ranma's female form's body a bit." Hayate wondered out loud. "I hear he's stacked in that form."

"That has to be the strangest phrase I have ever heard." Aliza commented as Suzuka blushed from the blatant innuendo.

"Yep, they are all soft and perky." Nanoha giggled as Hayate zone out. Then in a softer voice. "It's always amusing watching Hayate get like that." She said as an aside to the two other girls.

"Wait, how would you know that?" Hayate blinked a few times. "I thought Ranma has Nayru keep him from changing all the time now."

"He carried me in his shirt a lot when we were in our alt forms." Nanoha shrugged. "Once you get past the jiggling it's actually pretty comfortable."

Hayate blinked and zoned out again even longer this time, her eyes becoming vacant and glassy as she processed the information.

"You know... She wouldn't nearly be as bad as this if you didn't provoke her." Suzuka pointed out timidly.

"Oh, where is the fun in that?" Nanoha grinned widely as Hayate snapped back into attention.

The train pulled up and all four girls got on, sitting primly on one of the empty benches. The ride to Nerima was a bit long, so they had plenty of time to talk while the train started to move. The subjects were a bit more tame after that, but not by much.

Nanoha had managed to make Hayate zone out once more before they finally hit the end of the ride, it was a bit of a disappointment to her actually. She had tried, she really had, but somehow the conversation had slipped away from her and gone from on her friends to actually on her.

"So what did you and Signum do last week?" Hayate asked curiously as she and the others got to their feet. "I never really got around to asking her, she was so red when she got back."

"Uhm.." Nanoha pursed her lips and tried to identify what her friend was talking about. "Oh! That's when we went to one of those famous wrestling events. It was the one with the cages, and somehow one of the contestants sneaked a barrel of cooking oil into the match. There was oil everywhere."

"Umm..." Suzuka blinked a few times as she tried to picture the event. The only thing that came to her mind made her blush heavily.

Alisa blinked a few times. "What in the..?"

"It was one of the fights nearby Nerima." Nanoha explained quickly. "They tend to get really weird really fast." The girl flushed a bit at the thought. "I wasn't complaining, since it was a half dozen men trying to wrestle with oil flying everywhere."

Hayate opened and closed her mouth a few times. "It's not really my thing... But now I wish I had gone anyway."

"Oh, there were a few women too." Nanoha added quickly. "They actually kept back and cheered at the other wrestlers though."

Suzuka blushed heavily at the imagery and hid her face while Alisa just groaned and slapped her hand to her head. "I swear Nanoha you are a bad influence."

All of the girls giggled as they walked out of the train station and into Nerima proper. Nanoha took the lead from then, taking a path through the convoluted streets that very quickly lost the other girls. As they walked they couldn't help but note the signs of wrecked areas and the numerous signs of various stores and dojos. The entire area was like a giant tourist trap in some points, and in others it was like the world had not progressed into the modern ages.

"This place is... Strange." Suzuka finally noted.

Nanoha shrugged as she passed a sign that stated 'Martial Arts Tea Ceremony.' "To be honest I think it fits Ranma and his father pretty well."

An outraged scream of rage came from another alleyway and all four girls winced. What sounded like a horde of people running began to reverberate across the area.

"I'm getting flashbacks to grade school." Alisa took a nervous step back.

"You mean when Ranma got everyone to chase him?" Suzuka looked around rapidly.

Alisa nodded as Hayate just looked at the two with an incredulous expression. "I thought you were making that up."

"Oh no, it does sound a lot like that time." Nanoha replied nonchalantly. "I think we should get out of the street now." The brown-haired girl began to herd her friends into a nearby store. The action sadly came too late.

"What a haul! What a haul!" A little old man with a massive bag of underwear skipped out in front of all the girls. He was tiny, wrinkled and old, dressed in a ninja outfit and with a pair of panties covering his face.

"Is that..." Suzuka blushed beet red as she turned to look at what was in the bag.

"Why hello sweet things!" The old man jumped right in front of all four girls, who took a step back. "What are such pretty ladies doing in a place like this?" The old man grinned lecherously.

"Just visiting a friend sir." Nanoha smiled warmly down at the man, ignoring how her friends backed up. "I do think that you have bigger issues than us though. That horde sounds like it's catching up."

The old man looked behind him with a raised eyebrow and then turned back the Nanoha. "You are a sharp one." He took a hop back and leapt from the ground onto his sack. "What's your name girl?" He asked, lighting up his pipe and ignoring the gradually strengthening sound of the horde.

"Nanoha Takamachi." The girl in question inclined her head.

"Pleased to meet you Nanoha!" The old man chuckled and glanced back quickly. "You can call me Happosai. If you can catch me later I would love to talk with a pretty thing like you!" With that the man jumped off his sack, grabbing onto it and dashing up the the girls. "Later sweet things!" He jumped past them and their clothing ruffled.

"That was..." Suzuka rubbed at her clothing a moment in confusion. "What the..."

"Huh?" Alisa pulled open her shirt and looked down.

"Well I'll be." Nanoha looked down at her body for a moment and then rubbed her legs together to confirm something. "I didn't even see him move."

"He took our underwear." Hayate stated flatly. "All of our underwear."

"Looks like it!" Nanoha chirped as she looked down her shirt as well.

"He... HE..." Suzuka went beat red.

Alisa took a step back and Nanoha blinked as the normally timid girl trembled. With a deep shuddering breath the girl took a few stumbling steps and then righted herself as she walked to a nearby street lamp. She gripped the lamppost as if supporting herself for a moment and then looked at the mob still chasing after the old man.

"GRAHHHH!" The purple haired girl roared and ripped the pole out of the street. "LET ME AT HIM!" She then began to sprint after the crowd.

"Nanoha," Hayate said quietly as Alisa gaped at the hole in the street. "Isn't she supposed to be the normal one?"

"Yep!" Nanoha chirped again as she made sure her skirt stayed down.

Alisa just sighed and hung her head. "Nanoha."

"Huh?" The girl turned to the blonde with a curious expression.

THWACK.

"Ieee!" Nanoha teared up as she clutched her head and Alisa growled.

"Stop being so amused!" The girl demanded.

"But it's funnnny!" The girl whined.

Hayate sighed at her friends as she looked at the running mob. "As funny as it is, someone should follow Suzuka, she doesn't know the area."

"I can do it easy." Nanoha waved and manifested Raging Heart, twirling the staff casually around and getting ready to make a magically assisted jump.

"Wait!" Alisa tackled the brown-haired girl before she could jump. "Change into something else first! You will flash the entire neighborhood if you do that."

"Oh.." Nanoha blushed slightly and looked down at her skirt, the standard school uniform for her school. "Yeah, that might be a good thing."

With a gestures her clothing shifted into pink free-flowing energy. Then in a flash she was dressed in her battle uniform, white and pristine. Looking down at her uniform Nanoha took the time to be sure that all her clothing was in the proper place, and then she leapt to a rooftop in a low key magical jump.

Hayate blinked a few times as she watched Nanoha. "You know, I think you shouldn't have warned her. I wouldn't have minded a free show."

Alisa just groaned and rubbed at her forehead. "You two are irredeemable perverts."

"True, true." Hayate nodded seriously. "Lets go to that dojo that Nanoha told us about instead of waiting here. I have directions stored in my device, so I can find it easy."

On the rooftops Nanoha leapt from building to building. She could easily fly to where the mob was, but she wanted to be low key instead of blazing through the air. Fortunately the mob was very easy to spot as it traveled across the neighborhood. Unfortunately, just as Nanoha managed to catch up to where the mob was, a wave of magic flowed over her, and the world went gray.

Recognizing a barrier being setup, Nanoha stopped where she was and looked around quickly. A spell this style was usually cast for only very specific reasons, so she should be able to spot the mage that cast it quickly. A massive blast of yellow light a block away quickly told who had cast the spell.

'Fate?' Nanoha sent mentally.

The response came quickly, and more succinctly than usual. 'One moment Nanoha. I'm dealing with an... Irritant.'

Nanoha jumped into the air and blasted fulls peed to where the blast had came from, and spotted Happosai cackling madly in front of Fate, who was clad in her barrier jacket, and looked remarkably irritated for her. 'Huh, he got your panties too.'

The old man was waving the item in question around, closer inspection revealed that he had Fate's bra on top his head as well. The bag of underwear was nearby and on the ground at least. "Wow, nice firepower toots!" The old man laughed and twirled the underwear around. "The lightning affinity really matches the look, if you know what I mean."

"Die." Fate responded, as angry as Nanoha had seen her in a long time. The girl shifted her position and Bardiche clicked and hissed as it shifted into a scythe. Her form blurred and sped towards Happosai impossibly fast.

"Yeow!" The old man hopped around as the girl blurred past him. "Ow, ow! How could you abuse a poor old man so?" He looked remarkably dirty from the attack, but almost unscathed.

"Ow." Nanoha touched down next to the old man with a small smile on her face. "You really got dear Fate mad didn't you?"

"Nanoha!" Happosai hopped at the girl and clung to her breasts, nuzzling his face into the cloth. "I adore the new look. Nice bra and panty combo as well."

The girls eyebrow twitched at the man nuzzled at her. "Ok, that's enough of that. Off or I let Fate murder you."

"Yes ma'am!" The old man hopped off, two suspicious items in his gi.

"I'll let that go again." Nanoha grit out and then smiled at the old man. "I'll even help you in exchange for one thing."

"Oh?" Happosai tucked her underwear into his gi. "What would that be?"

"Ahem." The girl knelt down and whispered into the old man's ear.

A few feet off Fate frowned at the two. She had meant to continue her attack, but then Nanoha had dropped in and into the line of fire. That the two were conferring even after the man had groped her made the hairs on the back of Fate's head stand up. It was when the two shook hands that Fate and the blonde saw her bra and panties get passed to the brown-haired girl that Fate finally figured out what had been causing the feeling of dread.

"Deal!" Nanoha tucked the two items into her barrier jacket and casually rested Raging Heart behind her back, placing herself in between Fate and Happosai.

Fate's eyebrow twitched. "You didn't."

"Yep! Your underwear in exchange for my protection!" Nanoha chirped cheerily.

Fate sighed and got Bardiche into a ready stance. "I am going to hurt you now Nanoha."

"Nyhaha." The white clad girl gave out a small laugh, clearly enjoying Fate's discomfort.

Fate shot forward and her device impacted on Nanoha's magical, the girl still casually standing with Raging Heart behind her back. With a grunt of effort Fate pushed forward, and the barrier shattered. With a twirl Nanoha managed to get Raging Heart in the way of the blow, and magical power sparked across the field.

Off to the side, Happosai frowned and looked from his bag of ill-gotten gains and back to the fight, clearly debating something. Finally he stopped, hopped onto his bag and pulled out his pipe to sit back and watch. For a moment that seemed all he was going to do, but at this first sign of the fight getting flashy he pulled out two small pom-poms and then began to cheer.

"Go Nanoha, Go Nanoha!" He cheered and began to wave the two items around.

"Oh look, I have a fan." Nanoha grit out as she blurred back and Raging Heart shifted into firing mode.

Fate blurred out of the way and behind Nanoha, shattering the small binding spell that Nanoha had placed behind her to trap the girl. "Lucky you." She spoke softly as she swept Bardiche in an arc towards Nanoha.

The girl bent forward, and in a page out of Ranma's book actually rolled on the ground, shifting so that her still charging device was pointed point blank at Fate. "I know, aren't I?" The device let loose a short blast of pinky light. Knowing that wasn't enough, the girl stepped back, lifting into the air a few feet and starting to swirl several dozen small balls of pink power around herself.

"Tch." Fate growled out as she dropped the shield that had stopped the blast and swept Bardiche back. The device clicked and shifted around and then hummed as it became a massive zweihander. "I'll be ending a bit of your luck today."

Nanoha just laughed and let loose her barrage of magic, sending the dozens of small lights at Fate, who dodged them nimbly. The girl twisted and turned, and in a few cases slapped the shots out of the air, ignoring how they exploded with terrifying force. Finally she was in front of Nanoha, who had been flying back and into the air. With a grunt he girl heaved the sword around her body and slammed it into Nanoha. The brown-haired girl blocked, but was forced down onto the ground again, cratering it as her feet impacted.

"Hold up, Time out!" Happosai yelled, and both girls stopped incredulously. "If you girls are going to fight dammit, do it properly." The old man grumbled as he set down his pom-poms and walked up to where the two blinked at the old man with complete confusion.

"First, Nanoha." The old man lectured. "Your block was technically good, but if you are in the air like that, and don't have leverage over the opponent, don't try to block, go with it and flow around. And that barrage you used was flashy, but if you know your opponent is that fast, just let them come to you and surround."

"Umm." Nanoha found herself nodding haplessly.

"And you!" Happosai pointed to Fate. "Who taught you how to use that bludgeon you call a sword? Your hips were moving all wrong! A blade that big is all about mass, if you want speed use something smaller. The way you were twisting you were losing almost HALF your power! I am ashamed to watch it."

"Urk." Fate took a step back.

"Now you two are flashy, but if I see such atrocious styles again I will really be annoyed. Kids these days." The old man muttered as he walked back to his bag, picking up the pom-poms again. "Now ahem. Go Nanoha! Go Nanoha!" He began to wave the two objects yet again as he cheered.

Both girls just looked at each other with looks of complete confusion. Finally they seemed to shake it off, and Fate took a few steps back. "That kind of killed the mood."

"I know." Nanoha sighed and brought up Raging Heart. "Want to settle this the old fashioned way?"

"Why not?" Fate shrugged and brought up Bardiche and the weapon shifted into it's firing mode.

Both girls concentrated, and a massive amount of power began to coalesce between them. Then like two flashlights coming on two massive beams of light washed across the field and towards each other. The two impacted in a titanic clash, and half the field that they had been fighting in was destroyed from the massive backwash of power.

Off to the side Happosai let out an whistle of appreciation. Just as quickly as the explosion started, it cut off. The pink light washed across the field and hit Fate with titanic force. The girl however, came out singed slightly and unharmed.

"Ow." Fate gave a quiet groan. "You still have more punch than me."

"Eh, you are still far faster than me." Nanoha shrugged as she walked over to where Fate was. "I win though."

Fate shrugged and placed her shoulder over Nanoha to support herself. "I'm not mad anymore. You will however be returning my underwear after you wash them."

"Awwww." Nanoha whined.

Happosai chuckled and puffed on his pipe as the barrier went down. Then he blinked a few times as he noted that there were quite a few angry women around him. One of them was holding a lamppost. "Ahh.. Hello ladies."

* * *

"Kay, we have all the dishes out, and both our pops out of the house." Ranma's mouth twitched slightly. "Still don't know why we are going to all tha trouble to setup this Kasumi."

"Silly Ranma." The older girl scolded slightly as she bent over and looked in the oven before smiling. "Having your friends go to all the trouble of coming here without properly welcoming them feels wrong to my sensibilities."

"I suppose..." Ranma shrugged. "They're more Nanoha's friends honestly."

"Considering they knew you when you were both children, I think you can count them as friends too." Kasumi took out the dish and placed it on the oven to cool. "Besides, poor Nanoha had such a poor time last she visited, I don't want her to think we are ungracious hosts."

Ranma's mouth twitched. "Ha. Alrighty then. I'll tell you when they get here, Nanoha's a bit far off still."

The bell at the door made Ranma frown. "Or I thought they were."

"Go check, Akane and Nabiki are still in their rooms and probably didn't hear that." Kasumi shooed Ranma away and went back to the dish she had pulled out of the oven.

Ranma rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen and to the area where the bell had sounded. The Tendo house was a large area comparatively, two stories with a dojo and a carefully maintained yard. It wasn't high class, but it was above the normal. It also didn't compare one whit to Alisa and Suzuka's homes, but that mattered little to Ranma. What did matter to him was the fact that the area was surrounded by a fairly stout fence that made it hard for people to drop in unannounced.

Upon opening the gate Ranma blinked a few times. "What the hell happened to you?"

Alisa and Hayate smiled weakly at the boy. Their usual neat appearance was messed, and both girls were sporting small blushes. Hayate was the first to speak up as she attempted to comb her hair back into place. "It's a bit windy... And we had a rather embarrassing incident with a local."

"Huh?" Ranma looked with a clueless expression at the slightly cloudy sky. "I don't get it."

"There is a pervert out there who can take panties and bras off a girl by just passing them." Alisa grit out bluntly. "We almost flashed half the neighborhood getting here."

"Erk..." Ranma blushed brightly and stepped aside. "Go ahead."

"Thank you." Alisa replied and walked inside stiffly. Ranma noted that she was clutching at her skirt rather tightly.

Hayate paused as she walked in and then smiled. "Nanoha and Fate got them back though. They just sent me a message that they will be here soon."

"That's..." Ranma paused for a moment. "Wait, he got those two as well?"

"Nanoha found it funny." Alisa called back from inside the house.

"She would." The boy muttered as he rubbed at his forehead. "Well feel free to have a seat, Kasumi wanted to prepare a treat for you all, and went full out."

"Really?" Hayate skipped into the house. "It will be nice not to have to eat my own cooking for once."

Ranma waved as the brown-haired girl left and looked up into the sky with a small frown. "The two must be flying here with Suzuka."

The martial artist shrugged and leaned against the fence of the compound and waited a moment. He did hear Kasumi greet the two guests, but couldn't make out the conversation that followed. Most of his concentration was on Nanoha and Fate's travel.

Finally he perked up and smiled as the two dropped out of the sky, Suzuka held between them. The dirty appearance made him blink a few times though. Both Nanoha and Fate looked as if they had just fought a few rounds.

"Did that pervert put up that much of a fight?" Ranma asked with a frown.

"Yes, she did." Fate pointed towards a smirking Nanoha.

Ranma sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "Please tell me that Nanoha wasn't stealing panties."

"I traded them!" Nanoha chirped and giggled as Suzuka glared at her. "Ok, ok, I gave them back, but that old man was amusing, and durable."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked as Suzuka went beet red and ran into the house.

"Suzuka planted a lamppost on his head, and when we left he was shaking it off." Fate offered calmly.

"Ah." The boy nodded and waved the two into the house. "I see she's still as strong as she always has been."

* * *

Once the initial awkwardness of the underwear thief had worn off the girls had found themselves enchanted by Kasumi's food, and the conversation was put on hold while they enjoyed themselves on some of the better dishes. Akane and Nabiki had joined up soon after Nanoha and Fate had arrived, so Ranma was a bit outnumbered by the girls of the group. So rapidly the conversation had turned to him.

"He was so adorable when he was tiny!" Nanoha gushed with a mocking smile. "I mean sure he was always dirty, but he always had to act like the little knight in shining armor."

Fate's mouth twitched as Ranma groaned and slammed his head onto the table, just missing his food. "Please, just kill me now and get it over with."

"I seem to remember him being the tiny imp myself." Alisa stated primly, with a small smile. "Didn't he have the teachers praying daily to the local shrine?"

"He did." Suzuka nodded. "The teachers threw a party when he left too, I heard my mother talking about it."

"Rotten little," Ranma muttered as he looked up. "I shoulda spiked their coffee with something before I left."

"To be fair you did manage to get the entire school chasing after you at one point." Fate pointed out calmly.

Nanoha giggled. "That was amusing, seeing him on top of the tool shed and taunting everyone."

"Really Saotome, do you practice that or does it come naturally." Nabiki asked with a slightly sarcastic edge. "I mean you're like a genius at pissing people off."

"Nabiki." Akane chided softly. "I'm sure that Ranma didn't piss off everyone he met."

"Doesn't Arf still want to pound him flat?" Nanoha asked Fate curiously.

"Um." Fate thought a moment. "I think she's given up on it lately, but for awhile she did."

"I know Vita still does." Hayate giggled as she spoke up. "She always comes home grumbling about that rotten Saotome whenever they spar."

"Tch, she's just mad that I can kick her ass nine times out of ten." The boy in question muttered.

Hayate laughed out loud and then smiled. "I know you have Signum wrapped around your finger though. She has your sparring dates marked on the calender and everything."

"Gah!" Ranma twitched out as the rest of the girls giggled. "We have to plan them out like that! When I fight her we end up needing a week to recover each!"

"A week, with the way you heal?" Akane asked curiously.

"Sounds more like an romantic rendezvous than a fight." Nabiki chimed in with a smirk.

"I know, doesn't it? Signum always comes back with the most satisfied expression on her face." Hayate replied with a cat-like smile.

Nanoha gave a fake gasp and hugged at Ranma with teary eyes. "You are cheating on me with Signum? But, but what about our kinky threesome with Fate?"

Kasumi, who had been quiet until that time sputtered up some of the tea she had been drinking and blushed. "Oh!"

The girls more familiar with Nanoha just rolled their eyes. Suzuka handed Kasumi and napkin while Alisa sighed at Nanoha and offered an explanation to the Tendos. "Nanoha's a rather, large, pervert. This is the girl who found a porno based on them and then showed it to all of her friends."

"Yeah, I'm still a bit annoyed at that actually." Ranma pointed out as he pried off Nanoha.

"You three are really that famous?" Akane tried to wrap her mind around the fact that the three of them were that well known.

"The organization we are part of has very few mages of our level. It doesn't help that Nanoha and Fate are some of the most attractive women in their positions." Hayate explained.

Fate nodded in agreement and then added."Ranma's not really part of the TSAB, but he's known as our associates, as well as a powerful fighter in his own right."

"So, like any famous people, you get parodies made of you." Nabiki's voice was dry as she spoke. "Aren't you a bit young though?"

"Mid-childa law is kinda funny like that." Fate spoke softly. "So long as it's not really us right now, they don't care. Technically though, we could be considered adults if we wished it. Mages of high level are considerably more mature than their age would indicate."

"Never quite got that myself." Ranma commented with a frown. "I know pops got into all sorts of trouble when he and I were tramping around."

"That's because your father is near insane with his training." Nanoha pointed out flatly. "I respect his knowledge, but sometimes he scares me."

"You just say that because he lectured you for hours about pushing yourself too hard." Ranma pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait you respect that lazy ass?" Nabiki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Tch. He's an idiot, a thief, and a bastard." Ranma coughed out. "But he's my pops."

"There are worse parents." Fate offered quietly and somberly. "Genma cares. If he fails in all else, at least he loves his son."

"New topic!" Nanoha blurted out in an attempt to change the subject. "So Ranma, when are you going to marry Akane?"

"What?" Ranma jerked backwards. "Where tha hell is that coming from?"

"I'm not exactly happy with that idea either." Akane pointed out quickly.

"Didn't you say that your father wanted you to marry before a certain age?" Nanoha frowned and looked up into the sky. "Something about you carrying on his legacy?"

"Yeah pops said he want's me married, but there was nothin' about a legacy." Ranma muttered out. "Plus it doesn't have to be Akane."

"Huh?" Akane blinked a few times. "Since when did you get a choice? For that matter, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't?" Ranma scratched his head and inched back. "Pops would prefer it, but he didn't say to who I needed to get hitched to."

"Daddy was rather insistent that it be a Tendo." Nabiki pointed out. "He would be pretty offended if you didn't marry one."

"If he doesn't' want to I'm not going to force him." Akane muttered out peevishly. "Lets talk about something else please? This is kinda uncomfortable."

"Hmm." Fate pursed her lips and looked around the room as the everyone else feel silent. "Well, I did bring a few pictures of when we were children..."

"Oh no." Ranma went pale. "Please no."

"Noooo!" Nanoha wailed as Fate pulled out a large book of photos. "Not that book!"

"Well, you see here is what Nanoha and Ranma refer to as the 'wine incident'." Fate began calmly, ignoring Ranma and Nanoha's tears of despair.

The conversation went up, down and around. There were tears, and there were laughs. A fair amount of time was spent on Ranma's failings, but Nanoha dealt with her fair share too. Eventually everything began to wind down as it got dark, and it was time for everyone to leave.

"Thank you for having us." Suzuka bowed to the Tendos as the rest of the girls put on their shoes.

"It was a pleasure." Kasumi bowed back and handed the girl a small box. "A treat for you to eat on your trip back."

"Wow, it got dark." Nanoha looked up into the sky.

"Yes.." Fate trailed off as she looked into the distance. "Is that Happosai?"

Almost everyone's eyes went wide open as they watched the gigantic version of Happosai begin move in the distance. Then to add to the surreal scene a massive version of Genma grew into sight, and the two began to ponderously move towards each other. It was like watching an old monster movie. The two massive figures clashed like sumo wrestlers, and then a few nearby buildings crumbled.

Ranma's mouth opened and closed a few times as both Nanoha and Fate turned towards him. "Can you do that?" Nanoha asked with wide eyes.

"Umm, No?" The boy asked and answered at the same time.

"Darn." Fate spoke, and then blushed as everyone looked to her with surprised expressions. "What? I think it would be funny seeing Ranma-Monster."

"Hmm." Nanoha frowned and thought a moment. "If we add a helmet to his battle armor, he would look like those funny Giant Mecha TV shows."

"That would be funny." Fate nodded, and blinked as Genma opened his mouth in the distance and sent out a blast of magic at the giant Happosai.

Not to be outdone, Happosai opened up his mouth. However instead of a beam there were dozens of small little bombs. Genma jerked back ponderously from the explosion and then jerked forward, headbutting his opponent. There was a strangely hollow sounding crack, and both combatants dropped backwards.

"That is the perfect ending for the day." Nanoha finally declared. "Lets get out of here before anything else happens."

"Right!" The rest of the girls exclaimed.

* * *

"You know, you two had this coming." Ranma muttered with a smirk on his face as he looked at his suffering father. "I think you had like three news stations come around and try to film your expansion trick."

The two people in question just groaned from their place on the floor of the Tendo household. Apparently, while impressive the giant trick was expensive to maintain and had a nasty style of feedback. Thus both Genma and Happosai were unable to move and suffering from extreme pain.

"Respect your elders!" The old man wheezed out, and the groaned from the pain.

"Ya think I don't know about how you manhandled my friends?" Ranma raised an eyebrow at the geezer. "I should just drop kick you out of here, but I won't cause you are crippled right now."

Soun just shook his head from his seated. Normally he was flat out terrified of Happosai, but right now he was just tired from lugging the two to the house, through several city blocks. Fortunately his daughters were in bed now. It was embarrassing enough that Ranma had stayed up to see them.

"You are getting such a training session later." Genma wheezed out.

Ranma just chuckled at the man and sat at the table. "So why did you bring the ol' perv here in the first place?"

"This is the master of our school." Soun replied quietly, glaring at his guest. "Show the proper respect."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at the man and turned to the old and shriveled man on the floor. "I think the amount o' respect I am showin' the old bastard is plenty. He molested my friends." The teen paused a moment. "Though Nanoha thought it was funny."

"She's a good girl!" Happosai chuckled slightly as he shifted to get a better position. "Almost makes me regret not training girls."

"For once I am thankful for sexism." Ranma shuddered from the thought.

Genma just shook in fear as the very same thought came into his head.

_Chibi-Nanoha runs across the field chasing a panicked Chibi-Fate. She then tackles the blonde and there is a dust cloud. Then Chibi-Nanoha runs away with a pair of white panties. Off in the distance are all the Chibi-Knights laying on the ground with swirly eyes. Chibi-Nanoha has taken their underwear too. Hayate is in the background cackling._

Ranma and Genma both clapped their hands together in prayer while Soun and Happosai looked at the two with confused expressions. After a moment Ranma shook himself and peered at the old man.

"Say, if you are the master of the school, then you're the one that made that rule that I can only be a master if I get hitched." Ranma hunched down and smiled a bit menacingly. "I don't suppose you could repeal that."

"Bah." Happosai eyed the teen and snorted. "For one thing, I ain't seen anything about your supposed proficiency, for another thing I made that rule because these two numbskulls were driving me insane with their wistful sighs. It was either make the rule and kick them into their wives or deal with their blathering for the next year!"

"Well, that should make it easy for you to repeal it then." Ranma smiled happily, tucking away how his parents met into one corner of his mind.

"Fat chance boyo." The old man pulled out a pip and lit it with a spark from his hand. "You look like the exact same type as your idiot of a father."

Ranma snorted in response. "If I need ta get married it's no real problem, it's just a hassle and all. With all the weeping, and the whole white dress and everything else."

"Really." Soun perked up at that. "Then we can hold the wedding with Akane tomorrow!"

Ranma gave the man a flat look. "No chance, not with her."

"Huh?" Soun looked perplexed then angry. "Are you insulting my little girl?" The air around his head darkened and he eyes began to glow red.

"Gaahh!" Ranma twitched and fell back. "What the HELL?"

"Answer the question boy!" The man's face distorted and a began to change into a demonic looking mask.

"If I get married it's NOT going to be Akane." Ranma shuddered and rolled back again. "In fact, I ain't marrying any o' your daughters period."

"You are insulting my girls!" Soun declared and shot to his feet, somehow managing to grab and don a set of samurai armor in an instant. "Die!" He pulled back on the bow he had grabbed and fired several shots at the boy.

"Hey, hey!" Ranma dodged the first few shots and the rolled his eyes. "All right this is silly." Sweeping back a bit the pig-tailed martial artist just said one word. "Nayru."

"Jest'!" The device replied, sounding almost amused.

In a flash Ranma's armor appeared and the next arrow deflected off his armor harmlessly. The boy looked on as Soun charged forward, firing the entire time. Then suddenly his entire body was banded up in bright white lines that restricted his movement and prevented him from firing.

"Listen." Ranma glared as he walked up to his host. "You have been really good about keepin' me here, but I don't give a damn about what who you think I should marry. You get pushy like this and I will just leave, no matter what pops says."

"But.. But.." Soun looked back to his friend. "Genma!"

"What do you expect me to do?" His friend called back from his place on the ground, but groaned as he heaved himself to his feet. It obviously hurt a lot, and the man was sweating as he walked to where his friend was bound. "Listen old friend. If the boy doesn't want to do it I'm not going to force him."

"Huh." Ranma looked a bit surprised at his father before shaking his head. "Listen, your girls are cool an' all, but they aren't my type."

Soun looked perilously close to tears, and then without warning he began to blubber. "Whahaha! Our plans and dreams of uniting the schools!"

Genma sighed and patted his friend on the back, before staggering and slumping to the ground. "There there."

Ranma rolled his eyes and walked inside to where Happosai was. "Now about that repeal."

"Not a chance boy." The old man cackled and blew out a cloud of smoke. "Really, you have to appreciate the good things in life. Marry one of those hot numbers you call friends, pop out a few kids. You know, actually insure the next generation is there."

The teen's eyebrow twitched. "Yeah... Lets not go there so I don't have to kick you across the district. How about this, you and I fight, then when I win you make me a master."

Happosai laughed. "Deal."

* * *

Happosai puttered around the attic of the Tendo home as he let his body recover. While he had put up a good front for the boy he was not exactly confident of his assured victory. You didn't get as old as he had without making sure things were stacked in his favor. There were too many variables for him to be totally confident of winning. Sure he could probably pull it off, but really why expend the effort when a bit of cheating would let him sail through.

The fight was tomorrow evening, not enough time to get a proper scope on the capabilities of the young upstart. Genma wouldn't be any help, the man was surprisingly hard to get proper information out of. Happosai could get a few ideas by the way the man had fought him at the bar though.

What he knew worried him. That armor the boy had worried him more. It was on par with his more dangerous artifacts, and worse it seemed fully controllable. So he probably needed to negate that and go from there. Maybe a bit of pre-match harassment to exhaust the boy too. He had a demon summoning scroll just begging to be used somewhere.

The old man nodded to himself as he hopped down the stairs and into the second floor of the house. Now to get an idea of how to negate that advantage. The boy should be asleep by now, and a little bit of thievery would be a great way to start things off. If he only knew what to look for.

"Hello Gramps." The voice made the old man blink and actually pay attention. It was the middle daughter of Soun. A hot number, but far from his type, she was too unfit physically.

"Now what are you doing up so late?" The old man asked with a raised eyebrow. "Were you waiting for little old me? I'm flattered, but you really aren't the girl for me."

Nabiki gagged and shuddered at the same time. "Just for that this is going to cost extra. How would you like some information on your opponent tomorrow?"

"Really now?" Happosai gave a small cackle and smirked at the girl. "Tell you what, tell me what you know and I can decide on the payment."

"Nah, uh." The girl waved her finger with a small smirk. "You don't get the goods until you cough up the cash. I can guarantee it will be worth your while though."

The old man rolled his eyes. "How much?"

"Ten thousand Yen." Nabiki made her offer with a wide smirk.

Happosai sputtered. "What are you trying to do, rob me? Five hundred!"

"Please, this is good information. A little old man like you fighting against a big strong guy like Ranma needs the help." The girl chuckled at the mans outrage.

"Five thousand then. It has to be good information though." The old man replied with a frown.

"Seven thousand." Nabiki countered quickly.

"Fine fine." Happosai muttered and fished in his robes. "If this isn't good information all your underwear is going to be missing tomorrow."

"Tch." Nabiki scoffed and took the money greedily. "This is prime stuff. I got a few tapes of when he wasn't careful in his fights, and I know what his weakness is. You take the gemstone he has hanging around his neck and drop it in this safe I know of and he can't do half the magic tricks he normally does."

"Really now?" Happosai chuckled a moment. "Magic items like that take a bit of proper handling. You wouldn't be trying to get this old man shocked would you?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes at the him. "If someone as old as you doesn't have a way of keeping himself from getting caught then you deserve what you get."

"Hahah!" The old man laughed a moment and smirked at the girl. "Get me those tapes and I can get you that gemstone, since you want it so badly."

"Oh, you saw right through me." Nabiki mock pouted. "It's not as if you can hide it, the very first thing his friends are going to check is you."

Happosai waved his hand and began to walk back up to the attic. "Give me those tapes by tomorrow."

The old man smirked to himself as he ascended the stairs. He did so happen to have a way of stealing something as magical as that gemstone would be. While Genma was the thief, he wasn't half bad himself. The thing was he knew what to steal and when to steal it.

The poor girl probably thought he would just gift wrap the thing, but if this item was as potent as he thought it wouldn't like being away from it's master. He only needed it contained for about a day after all. Once he was done with that, well...

What happened after that was up to the boy's friends. After all, the girl was going to be the one with the evidence. He was just the innocent old man defending his title. Now to figure out what he was going to steal the device with, and what to summon the demon to do. That part was actually probably going to be a bit harder than the whole theft thing.

* * *

With a groan Ranma twitched and rolled over, trying to decide if he should sleep in or actually get up today. In the back of his mind he knew that he had that match today, but since he didn't actually have school or anything else, he was sincerely tempted to just sleep in. He tossed the idea back and forth in his head for a moment before finally lurching to his feet and groggily moving to where he kept Nayru. Leaning down the teen frowned and then straightened up and looked around the room he shared with his father.

"What the?" The pig-tailed teen muttered and concentrated on his link with his device. "Where is she?"

With a deeper frown the boy kicked up his pack ad then rolled over his bed. His link with the device was totally silent as well, so he couldn't just call the device back. Finally in desperation he kicked his sleeping father and checked under that bed as well. Genma continued to sleep without worries as his son became increasingly frantic.

"Happosai." Ranma growled and the sprinted out of the room and down to where he heard the old man talking.

"Now this is just what the doctor ordered Kasumi!" The man in question smiled happily as he bit off another piece of his breakfast. "You are going to make some man deliriously happy, I know it!"

Kasumi just giggled softly from her place at the table. And giggled again when Ranma lifted up the old man bodily and shook him. "Now now Ranma, don't be too rough. Your match isn't until this evening after all."

"Where is Nayru!" Ranma growled out. "I know you have something to do with her missing!"

"Nayru?" Happosai looked utterly unconcerned about the manhandling. "Who is this Nayru? Is she another one of those beauties I have heard so much about?"

"Nayru is the gemstone I have around my neck all the time! Where IS she?" The teen shook the old man as he growled out.

"I have no idea!" The old master tolerated the shaking only for a moment before slipping out of the hold and darting to the opposite end of the table. "Besides, even if I did know, it's part of Anything Goes to go for the weakest point! That's actually why I summoned the demon."

"Wait, demon?" Ranma looked to the people around table and then to the old man. "What demon?"

"I wanted some massive oni, or maybe something tricky when I performed the ritual." The man in question said from his place at the table. "Instead I got some sort of jester girl. She's got no chest to speak of and she's creepy, but she said she could keep you busy all day. That's all I needed anyway."

"And where is this demon?" The teen asked with a frown.

"My cue I believe?" A high pitched voice made everyone turn.

Both martial artists in the room frowned. They had been sure that no one had been there before, and yet now there was something. Despite himself Ranma found the hairs on the back of his neck stick up. She was petite, dressed in a harlequin outfit who's colors seemed to be washed out. At first glance she looked cute more than anything else with the white painted face and sincere smile. Yet the sense of something wrong seemed to ooze around her.

"We've heard of your exploits!" She chirped and then disappeared and reappeared behind Ranma.

The teen jumped and twisted in surprise as the girl giggled. "And I couldn't resist taking the chance to play! You may call me Mad!"

"Gack!" Ranma jumped and twisted again in his attempt to get away as a massive plant burst from the ground and attempted to twist around him.

"And we are going to have so much fun!" The girl chirped again. "So, much, fun." A sinister cast flowed over her face and she smiled too wide for a human face.

The plant that had so suddenly burst from the ground wilted, and Ranma took a wary step back as a sickening gas began to seep from it. Then with a jump he exited the house as another vine attempted to grab him.

"Just till the evening right?" The demon girl looked to the still sitting old man who nodded warily. "I'm so sad. I would have loved to play forever and ever and ever and ever." The girl laughed shrilly and disappeared.

"I might have overdone it a bit." The grandmaster of Anything Goes frowned thoughtfully at the ruined floor of the house.

"Almost forgot!" Mad's voice came from nowhere, and the floor of the house repaired itself. "Can't be a bad guest now can I?"

"Ah well!" The old man shrugged his shoulders. "No point in worrying about spilled milk and all that. Do you have seconds?"

Kasumi looked from the floor of the house and then to the Grandmaster. Then with a shrug she went back into the kitchen to grab more food for the man.

* * *

"Come on! You can do better than that!" Mad's voice singsonged as Ranma dodged the whipping vines frantically.

There was no rhyme or reason to the attacks. No pattern to it, just an instant where the ground rippled and then a man-sized vine would whip out at him. Worse was that they didn't disappear when they finished. They would go limp and start to rot terrifyingly fast. The teen had already been forced to abandon the Tendo backyard and get to the backstreets. In crossed some corner of his mind that there should be people around right now. The streets were empty.

"Dance for me my puppet, dance!" The girl howled out and appeared before Ranma with her disturbing smile in place.

Not one to pass up a free opening Ranma slammed his fist into the demon's jaw, not holding back, and taking the lower part of the girl's face clean off. The girl toppled to the ground limply.

"Urk." Ranma went a bit green and staggered back. He really had thought the girl had been more durable than that.

Just as he meant to go look at the body a voice from behind him made him jump. "Oh me, oh my, you killed me!"

Twisting with all his speed Ranma looked behind himself and felt his eyes widen. There was the girl, missing jaw and all. Worse was the fact that small black bugs were starting to appear in the place of blood, and they were seeming to reform her porcelain white face. Soon she was whole with her smile still in place.

"Damnit." Ranma darted back full throttle and away from the girl.

"Now where were we?" The girl placed a hand on her face and pouted in thought. "I forget."

Whatever she would have said next was impossible to say as a massive blast enveloped her form. Reinforcements had arrived.

"Really Saotome, you find the strangest opponents." Vita set down in front of the boy.

"Indeed." Signum wound up whip Levantine and shot the weapon into the dust cloud where the girl presumably still was.

"Bout time." Ranma muttered and turned to be sure that the creepy demon hadn't snuck up behind him.

"The entire area is in a dimensional field. Very subtle and centered on you." Signum stated calmly as her weapon snapped back into sword form. "Fate, Hayate, and Nanoha are staying behind to see if they can locate Nayru. Considering what this creature is doing it's probably a good thing that it's up."

"Oh you ain't seen nothing yet love." The demon's voice made all three combatants look up and to the side where the demon was perched lazily on the rooftop. "You see, since all I was summoned to do was to keep Ranma-darling busy, I get quite a bit of power leased to me. Such fascinating things I can show you all."

"Lets not." Vita snapped out and with two quick motions knocked several blasts of power toward where the demon was perching.

"I am the one who lives for this." The girls voice came from all around them, and then she appeared off in the distance slowly raising her arms. "Destruction and Carnage I bring."

"Get her." Ranma muttered as he began to sprint toward the demon. "That sounds like a spell."

"Yeah I get that." Vita replied as she and Signum shot into the air and blurred with speed.

"Decay, and Rot, and Madness." The demon smiled widely and her body seemed to sag sickeningly. "Such awful and terrible things."

Signum's blade sliced the demon in half, and like tearing paper the demon's clothing was split in half and it fell to the ground, empty. With a frown she poked the cloth, and then looked up as both her comrades stopped next to her.

Just as one of them were about to speak, a moan came from the ruined battleground behind them. From the decaying remnants of the vines bodies lurched up, tattered remnants of former people. A veritable army of zombies lurched.

"You have got to be kidding." Ranma muttered as he looked at the horde.

* * *

**_Bit of a hiatus, sorry for that. That said, enjoy the new chappy._**


	15. Chapter 15

"_We have friggen exploding zombies, how do you think I'm doing!" _Ranma's mental voice was harsh with suppressed irritation. _"Worse is that whatever they are leaving behind eats through shields like it's acid. We need Happosai to banish this blasted thing, because no matter what we explode it's not working."_

Nanoha winced slightly and smirked slightly at Fate. "I think he's doing fine so far."

"Well, he didn't say there were any injuries." The blonde girl replied softly and looked back to Hayate. "It might be better for you to go into the field and just level the area though."

"Lets hold off on that." Hayate replied quickly. "Whatever that dimensional field is, it's not letting anyone out when they get in. We are lucky that we can even get into it actually."

All three girls were floating serenely above Nerima. Not that it was by choice, Happosai was not inside the Tendo household, and there was no clue to where he was. With Ranma and the two knights inside a dimensional barrier, they had limited options. Right now it was a three way wide area magical search. Unfortunately with such a wide area to search it was difficult at best.

"I would guess that it's meant to trap people." Nanoha muttered as she focused and fed more magic into Raging Heart. "Think about it, Happosai ordered the thing to keep Ranma busy."

"Yes." Fate nodded in agreement. "Right now if we can't find him we can work on finding Nayru."

"This would be so much easier if the ship was in orbit." Hayate frowned. "I'm going to call Reinforce, and drop into the barrier. You two are better at searching than me, and this demon seems to like masses of creatures more than direct combat."

"All right." Nanoha snapped her device to her side and began to drop towards the street. "I'll work on finding Happosai. Fate can work on Nayru. We have to do this from the ground since something is blocking our attempts to search magically."

"Too much interference." Fate nodded to her friend and dropped as well. "I have an idea of where to look."

"All right!" The brown haired girl nodded back and zipped off into the distance.

Fate smiled briefly and then set down on the ground in a relatively isolated area. After a moment of concentration her clothes shifted into her school uniform, and she set off to the Tendo household. Through the relatively quiet streets and past the gates she walked, seemingly unconcerned. It wouldn't do to let people know how frustrated she was, or how worried.

Kasumi greeted the blonde at the door with a wide smile. "Fate! It's good to see you, are you well? I hope Master Happosai isn't causing you more trouble."

"I'm fine Kasumi." The mage favored her greeter with a small smile. "I need to speak with Nabiki, is she still in her room?"

The Tendo woman nodded serenely in reply. "Yes, she likes to sleep in on these days. Feel free to wake her up though, she's been asleep long enough anyway."

"Thank you." Fate nodded and began to walk up the stairs.

A small wooden duck notated the proper room. No one else was up and around the area, but Fate made sure to setup a small barrier while she opened the door. Nothing fancy, but it would allow her to speak to her target without issue or interruptions.

Nabiki's room was fairly barren, a few messy clothes on the floor, and schoolwork on the side. Much like a typical schoolgirl's room actually. Even the sleeping girl on the small western style bed wasn't unusual. Some part of Fate noted that it would have been so much easier if the girl hadn't been so very normal, and had shown the ugliness that was on the inside.

"Might as well be official about it." Fate sighed and invoked Bardiche. With a snap her device clicked into place, and her school uniform shifted to her combat uniform. "Nabiki Tendo."

The girl in the bed gasped as she was dragged up into the air, still in her nightclothes. Yellow bands snapped into place around her arms and legs, and her body was shifted so that she could see Fate. The blonde looked at her prisoner dispassionately.

"There are several dozen crimes I could accuse you of." Fate's eyes were cold. "There are even more I suspect you of. Right now, I am going to ask only one question. Where is Nayru."

The girl looked from side to side with wide eyes. Then with a quick inhale she began to scream as loud as possible. "HELP!"

"Enough." A yellow band of magic slapped across Nabiki's mouth and the girl's scream stopped. "Understand that nothing you can do will penetrate the barrier in this room. Again, where is Nayru."

The girl glared at her jailer as the yellow band around her mouth disappeared. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You are noted for blackmail, extortion, exploitation, and a number of other petty acts which are considered illegal in this country. I have personally verified and noted your tendency for theft and other illegal acts. The only reason you are not in jail is because your father has a fair amount of pull in the community." Fate calmly explained. "I am not unreasonable. I know your capabilities, and I know you spoke with Happosai and supplied him with tapes. If you lead me to Nayru I will not add stealing military hardware to the list of your crimes."

The bands imprisoning Nabiki dissipated and the girl was dropped onto her bed. The girl frowned sullenly and rubbed at her wrists. "I really have no idea what you are talking about." A small tear drifted down her face.

Fate quirked an eyebrow. "Very well. I will just have the local police pick you up today." The girl turned away with a snap. "To be frank I have little desire to take any more time with you."

"Yeah right." Nabiki snorted in reply. "Not as if those idiots can do anything anyway."

Fate nodded as she opened the door. "They can't. However, even they must obey an order from above. I've gone over the heads so to speak." The girl turned back and looked Nabiki with a calm expression. "Expect the police to show up shortly."

"You are bluffing." The short haired Tendo replied nervously.

Fate shrugged and stepped out of the room, still in her battle armor. "Believe what you will."

–

–

While Fate was dealing with Nabiki, Nanoha had dropped in front of the Chinese restaurant that was the base for the Amazons. Admittedly it was probably a poor idea, but there were few options for finding someone in the middle of the city. There were too many people to properly do a wide area search, and Happosai used a very similar style as Ranma and Genma, who were notoriously hard to track. However, the Amazons had managed to find Nanoha and her friends across a country. If anyone could find the canny Grandmaster of Anything Goes, they could.

The trick of it would be the price.

The door to the restaurant opened with a chime, and a boy with glasses bowed to Nanoha as she entered. "Welcome honored customer. There is an open spot up front if you are alone, and several tables to the back if you have other people coming."

"Eh." Nanoha titled her head at the boy, surprised slightly at the actual warm welcome. "Thank you."

With a shrug the girl made her past several full tables and to the front of the restaurant. There, behind the counter perched Cologne, who had her attention on the register more than the entrance. She didn't even turn her head as Nanoha sat down, but she spoke anyway.

"I assume you aren't here for Chinese food." The crone pressed a few buttons on the device and it opened with a clang. "I don't suppose I could interest you in something sweet at least?"

"Well..." Nanoha pursed her lips and gave a shrug. "Sure, I guess." The girl pulled out a small dollar bill. "I'm here to borrow your daughter for something though."

"Hmm..." Cologne frowned slightly as she made change for the purchase. "I can guess it's something about what Happosai has done, isn't it?"

"We think that he stole one of our devices." The brown haired girl admitted. "And he summoned something pretty nasty that's attacking Ranma."

Cologne sat a small dish of fried dumplings in front of Nanoha as she thought. "The old fool did always tend to play with fire. You want my daughter to track him don't you?"

"Yes, we need him to dismiss the summons and we need to get back the device." The mage replied quietly as she nibbled on one of the pieces of food.

"If I know him, he's barricaded himself somewhere and is cackling away at his cleverness." The old crone snorted to herself. "I'm fairly sure my daughter could find him. There are two problems though."

"Oh?" Nanoha looked up with a questioning expression.

Cologne nodded and turned away as she rummaged in an storage area behind the counter. "First is Shampoo is still annoyed with you for some reason, and she still refuses to tell me. Second is that we have no real reason to help you, we merely have cease fire, not an alliance."

Nanoha sighed and flushed slightly as she hung her head. "Well... I think I can do something about the first one, maybe. The second one is a bit harder."

"Of course it is child." The old woman pulled out a sheet and set it in front of the girl. "Answer these questions, and I will consider it an even trade."

"Huh?" Nanoha looked at the paper and felt her eyes widen. "These are simple spell equations? How did you get these?"

"Well, we had been observing you for a fairly long time." Cologne pointed out. "Really, once you get the idea of it, and know it's possible, it's just a matter of figuring out the how. I've already tested a few of those spells already, your reaction is probably payment enough."

The TSAB mage slapped the paper on the table and glared at the woman. "You are asking me to give you techniques that you could probably use to kill us again."

"Tch." Cologne gave a small laugh. "Don't use them if you don't want them stolen. You've worked with an Anything Goes user haven't you? They exemplify that doctrine. These paltry spells are just the basics, they are no threat to you even perfected. They are too mostly too exhausting to use as well."

Nanoha glared for a moment before she sighed and took a pen from it's place nearby the register. "This one and this one are wrong. That's all you are getting."

They were really simple things anyway, stuff being taught in grade school at Mid-childa. It was just disturbing that the equations were now on earth. They were actually fairly easy to prove too once the underlying mechanics were understood. What really worried Nanoha was not that the equations were there, but that there was most likely more that the elder wasn't showing her.

"That's more than enough." Cologne nodded at the girl. "I'll go get my daughter. Try not to damage her too much."

Nanoha crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. Somehow she felt that she was being outplayed, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

–

–

"Let's see here." Hayate muttered quietly to herself as she brushed her now white hair to the side. "How large is this dimensional barrier, and how much can damage can I do without breaking it."

Far below the mage's hovering form a fairly large explosion ripped across the already broken landscape. A few dozen zombies went flying through the air, but in reply more vines just erupted from the ground and slammed down, decaying rapidly and seeming to spawn more moaning creatures.

"All right. Got the co-ordinates." Hayate finally spoke quietly. "Watch yourself my knights."

With a gesture half a dozen magical circles appeared around the mage. Then summoning a book, Hayate held up both her hands in invocation. Then massive beams erupted from each circle. They arced almost lazily though the air, and impacted with seeming gentle power onto the ground around where the knights were. The result was anything but peaceful, the ground around the impact sites was annihilated. Six beams rained down at first, then twelve, then eighteen. All impacted in ever widening circles. A veritable wave of annihilating force.

Down on the ground Ranma and grinned fiercely even as he covered himself from the little bits of flying debris. After his first and only disastrous attempt at engaging the zombies in close range he had been forced to keep back and allow the knights to cover him. Sure he could fling rocks at the things, but there wasn't really an end to them.

"How rude." The demon appeared in front of the knights and looked up at Hayate.

Not wasting any time, both Signum and Vita immediately attacked the standing girl. Levantine actually sunk into the demons body, and Vita's weapon Graf Eisen was intercepted by a hand, which was crushed sickeningly.

The demon just began to chuckle as she grabbed Signum and pulled her closer, ignoring how the knight's blade sunk deeper into her. With a smile the Demon's lips locked onto Signum for a brief instant before she was blasted away.

Signum staggered and coughed and spat for a moment before slumping to the ground. She was still conscious, but it was clear that something was seriously wrong.

"Signum!" Vita darted to the woman's side and grabbed at her, using a quick spell to try to figure out what had happened.

The pink haired warrior's eyes just rolled as she attempted to focus on her fellow knight. "I... I seeeee.." She slurred out and slumped boneless to the ground.

"Hehe." Mad just giggled even as a rock smacked into her head and sent blood flying. "Oh, so much fun."

"Bitch." Ranma muttered at the demon and picked up another chunk of rock and pitched it at the demon like a bullet shot.

"Such sweet mutterings." The demon frowned suddenly and looked up to where Hayate was winding up another spell. "But we have a guest being rude..." The demon reached up to the sky, and it turned red. "Absolute Ruling. Earthbound."

Up in the sky Hayate abandoned her attempts to attack and threw up as many shields as she could. However, she was totally unprepared for what actually happened. One moment her flight spells were intact and working fine, and the next they would just, not, work. She dropped like a rock, and every time she attempted to restart the spells the very underlying spell-work didn't work. Fortunately she still had her barriers up as she impacted into the ground with a thud.

"Oww." Hayate groaned as she pulled herself up out of the crater she had caused from the impact.

A fair bit away from the impact Vita cursed and gestured to Saotome as she placed herself in front of the Demon. "Go help Hayate." The knight muttered and then addressed the demon with a ferocious scowl. "What did you do to Signum?"

"Hmm?" Mad watched Ranma sprint away with a distracted expression. "It's a fairly potent narcotic, weaponized. She'll barely remember the next few hours, and then be fine. I don't damage my playmates if I can help it, it's bad manners."

A light red drizzle of icy water began drop from the sky as Vita kept her position in front of the spaced out Signum. She had expected some sort of attack, but the demon seemed content to just look off in the distance with a distracted expression.

"Really, you mages are so confident in your power aren't you?" Mad asked conversationally. "Not that you don't deserve it by any means, but you get into all these fights, and then get mad when you get hurt."

"I tend to get mad when my friends are involved." Vita replied back with her scowl still in place.

The demon shrugged and leaned back. A massive wooden throne grew up to meet her, and rapidly expanded even more into a large sickly looking tree. She lounged lazily and finally looked at Vita. Her eyes were a washed out red. "That's what the extraordinary people do. The ones who are worth playing with. It doesn't even matter that you are fake, just that you actually fight. You could stab me in the heart right now and I would be content."

"Tch." Vita spat and adjusted her stance. "Not as if that helps against you."

Mad shrugged. "I'm the weakest in direct combat compared to those in my circle. However, in regeneration I am unmatched. Pain is pleasure and pleasure is pain, and everything that exists in this world brings me joy and despair in equal measures. I am the Mad Lady Decay. For me, everything dies, and loves me, and adores me." A truly mad smile graced the demons face as a Ranma in female form and Hayate finally ran up, expecting battle.

Both warriors stopped in confusion as they noticed the massive tree and the demon lounging in the wooden throne. There was no sign of battle, or aggression even.

"Oh! I forgot about that." The demon grinned and actually sat forward in her seat. "You all magical girls now! That means I get to use your traditional enemies!"

"What?" Ranma asked with a very angry expression.

"What's a little rape between enemies anyway?" Decay grinned too wide as a thousand vines dropped down from the tree around her.

Vita's mouth opened in horror for an instant. Then quick as thought she slammed a blast of energy at the demon.

–

–

Nanoha grit her teeth as a rush of various emotions blared across her link to Ranma. Just as quickly as it started, the link was cut off, with a deliberate snap and a vague apologetic feeling from Raging Heart. The girl frowned to herself in consternation. She had been monitoring Ranma's status, but apparently something a bit worse than the standard combat was happening. There was no worry, yet. But if she didn't get results soon, Ranma could need backup.

Unfortunately, her tracker was apparently having issues tracking the target. It was hard to tell though, Shampoo was very hard to read right now, coldly professional, and closed off.

No help for it. "Can you find him?"

Shampoo gave a start from her examination of the alleyway they were in. "Shampoo thinks that the menace was here, is just trying to get a direction."

"One second." Nanoha's device gave a soft click and she invoked a small incantation on herself. "There. Sorry, but your Japanese still needs work, and we need to communicate correctly." The translation spell was half telepathy, half brute force dictionary calculations from a device, but it worked for most languages, Chinese among them.

"I would rather not deal with another misunderstanding." Shampoo stated blandly in Chinese as she looked up the wall of the alley and jumped.

Nanoha winced as she followed. "Yeah... I guess I should apologize for what happened in the village."

"You GUESS?" Shampoo turned and glared at the brown haired mage. "You blew up half our village and you GUESS?"

"You weren't entirely blameless." Nanoha pointed out. "You were the one who challenged me."

"When one challenges another person, you agree to specific rules. You abused our hospitality, groped me, and then when we finally came to blows over Ranma, you overreact and knock me out." Shampoo scowled at Nanoha. "I might have provoked you, but you were the one who used what amounts to a battleship cannon!"

"I know that! No one was hurt either! I mean you got a bit singed, but I made sure that nothing was lethal." The mage backed away slightly.

The purple haired Amazon sighed and slapped her forehead. "We are in a rural area. The village has storage areas, and is not wealthy. Your blast destroyed our food stores. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

"I'm sorry ok!" Nanoha snapped back. "But you seem to forget that you chased us all the way across China!"

Shampoo snarled at the girl and reached for weapons that she had been forced to leave behind. "The first party was there to take you into custody. After you and your friends blasted them into the ground, the second party was dispatched. After you did the same to THEM, we sent near every one of our warriors there. That was the only party that was ordered to use lethal force! And we are lucky your little pet boy didn't kill any of them!"

"You could have fooled me with those arrows you chased us out with!" The brown haired girl growled back and moved Raging Heart to the side. "I honestly thought I was going to die the entire time you were chasing us!"

"Tch." The amazon spat to the side and the visibly attempted to reign herself in. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm here to find Happosai. Anything other than that is irrelevant."

"That's fine." Nanoha sighed and let her device drop. "Once we have found him, I don't need your assistance anymore, and we can go back to ignoring one another."

"Nothing would please me more." Shampoo knelt down onto the rooftop and seemed to look at something. "Happosai isn't being very careful." The girl dashed across the rooftops, Nanoha following quickly.

It took time, the purple haired Amazon had to stop and change directions several times. Periodically the girl would drop to the street and look around the ground as if searching for something. Nanoha herself could only stand by and watch. Near as she could tell what the girl was doing wasn't quite magic, but it was very close. Whatever the girl was doing, it eventually lead them to a fairly large hotel.

"He's on the tenth floor." Shampoo frowned and looked at the building. "That room probably, but it could be either of the nearby ones."

"That precise huh?" Nanoha frowned and looked around. This was a fair distance away from the Tendo household. "If you could, wait here? I will check it out, and wave you off if I find him."

"Fine by me." The Amazon sat down and took a deep breath. "I don't want to deal with the menace any more than I have to."

Nanoha gave a brief grin before floating to where Shampoo had indicated. There through the window, she could see Happosai watching the television with a happy expression. With a nod, the mage waved off Shampoo and sketched a quick symbol to setup a barrier around the area. It would alert the old man, but would trap him, and give her free reign.

Inside the room Happosai frowned as the TV went off, and his surroundings suddenly grayed out. Then just as he registered what was happening, a massive pink blast destroyed the window, and blasted him through the entire hotel and out the other end.

"Ow." The old man grit out from his cartored place on the street. "Which god did I irritate today?"

"No god." Nanoha had followed the beam through the hotel, and floated serenely above the Grandmaster. "Just me."

"Haha." Happosai cackled out weakly, and got to his feet. "Probably something close you little demon. Oww!" He cracked his back with tiny hands and then pulled out a pipe from his robes. "Ya know toots, there are easier ways to get training from me."

"I'm not here for that." Nanoha smiled pleasantly and tilted Raging Heart so that the device was pointed at the old man. "Call off your demon, and return Nayru."

"Ahhh..." Happosai puffed at his pipe and blew out a smoke ring. "That's what this is about eh? Sorry girl. Can't do an un-summon the way I performed the ritual. Well, that and whatever I got was a fair bit larger than I wanted."

"Excuse me?" Nanoha frowned and her device glittered as magic gathered. "What are you talking about?"

"Whatever I got, well let's just say that demi-god is probably an understatement." Happosai shrugged. "Things like that just take an opening, and you have to get out of the way. Be glad I managed to give it orders. It's been watching the boy, and probably you too."

"So you summoned some sort of DEITY!" Nanoha's eyes went wide. "What were you thinking!"

The old man shrugged again. "I wanted a small distraction, not whatever that thing was. That I got it is probably the boys fault. Be glad it's gone in about say, two more hours I think." Happosai pulled out an old watch and nodded. "And don't worry your pretty little head, I had so many rules inscribed in the summoning circle that deity or not the demon can't do much aside from occupy the boy."

"Forgive me that I won't take your word for it." Nanoha grit out. "Nayru. Ranma's device, where is it?"

"Hmm?" Happosai put away his watch and puffed on his pipe a bit more. "I have no clue." He blew out another smoke ring as a magic blast erupted from Raging Heart.

Calmly, Nanoha moved her device to the side and gathered more power to it's tip. "You are the only one with the means, motive, and opportunity. Do not lie."

Happosai cackled from the place he had dodged too. "Sweety, that's scary and all, but really if you want me to talk you would have to give more than a few magic blasts."

Nanoha rolled her eyes. "Tell you what, you tell me where it is and I don't arrest you after I blast you."

"Arrest me?" Happosai cackled again. "You are part of the police now girl? No, no, wait, you probably have some serious backers don't you? A pretty girl like you with something like that?" The old man twirled his pipe. "Let me make a deal then."

"What deal?" Nanoha's device glinted from the magic being gathered.

"Let me get a few gropes in, and you can do whatever you want to me." The old man wiggled his eyes lecherously.

The magic blast that followed was not particularly surprising. What was more surprising was the fact that the old man was nowhere to be found after the blast. Nanoha frowned as she looked around, and then rose up to the air quickly as she scanned the area.

"Where is he?" She muttered as she twirled in the air. "He should be still in the barrier, so where is he?"

Gritting her teeth, Nanoha began to send out several searching spheres. It would take a bit of time, but she was positive she could find him. Unfortunately, he was probably just as good at hiding as Ranma. The most Nanoha could do was send a quick update to her friends.

–

–

The smoke from Vita's strike seemed to linger unnaturally around the impact area, and the three active warriors placed their backs to each other warily as they waited for the mad demon to reappear in a different spot as she always had. It was therefore a mild surprise as the thing in female shape staggered out of the smoke coughing.

"I suppose that was a bit gauche." Mad Lady Decay coughed out. "I always forget what the appropriate archetype is when I am on the mortal plane." Taking a deep breath she arched her back in a stretch and smiled at the wary fighters. "I'm supposed to be the crazy undead chick right? Or is it mad trickster? I forget now." Frowning the woman turned away from the fighters without care.

"Is this some sort of GAME to you?" Ranma growled out furiously as Hayate slowly edged towards the downed Signum.

"Huh?" Decay twisted back to look at her opponents. "Of course it is. Everything I do is a game. My philosophy is 'Death is inevitable, have fun.' All those who follow _black_ know this when they hear of me."

Ranma's eyes widened slightly as he edged away from the demon. That combined with the most recent transmission from Nanoha had triggered something in his memory. "You're Desire's patron."

"Oh!" The demon perked up and clapped happily. "Now I remember again! I'm supposed to be fighting Ranma!"

"Erk!" Ranma snapped back as the demon appeared in front of him, just barely dodging a green mist that flowed out of her mouth.

"Ranma!" Vita darted at the demon as Hayate broke from the formation and ran to where Signum was.

Decay laughed as Vita's hammer impacted into her form, causing it to explode in a gory green mist. The tiny red head covered her mouth, but was unable to avoid the effects, turning green herself and starting to uncontrollably throw up.

"Damnit!" Ranma darted back again. "Hayate! The body is fake! Decay is the TREE!"

"What?" Hayate blinked and looked up from a very loopy Signum to the sickly tree nearby her.

"I'm a dryad." Decay's avatar appeared on the throne of the tree, lounging. "Born in hell. Grown to be strong and tall as a Demon of Harvest so long ago. Then left to wither and die as things changed as they always do." A strangely patterned red and black apple appeared in her hand. "My realm is a glorious carnival, surrounded by a beautiful orchid of apples. Much like this."

The ground began to rumble, and all the fighters fought for their footing. A massive Ferris wheel showed up in the distance, and trees began to sprout around the fighters. All of them looked sickly. Hayate grabbed Signum and ran to where Ranma was pulling Vita along. Both knights were thoroughly disable. Vita, unable to stand and nauseous to the point of instability, and Signum high as a kite and staring off into the distance. The trees erupting around them looked very unfriendly, and they needed to keep together and away from what they now knew as a false body.

"It's end game." Decay looked very serious as she bit into the apple. "You know my secret, and our time grows short. No more rules. Period."

Hayate blinked as she floated into the air. Whatever malevolent force that had been blocking her flight had been lifted. Looking at Ranma the brown haired girl nodded and shot into the air. Off in the distance the Ferris Wheel creaked and snapped and began to roll towards the fighters.

"All you have to do is live Ranma." The Mad Lady looked directly at the boy. "All things come in threes, and I am yet two."

The trees began to shake and rip themselves out of the ground. They were massive ponderous things that Ranma would normally have had no trouble avoiding. Only, Signum and Vita couldn't move. So With a snarl Ranma slammed his fist into the nearest one and snapped it in half, and the rest began to advance on him. A thousand of them, all of them creaking and groaning.

In the air Hayate focused her power determinedly. According the Ranma's mental transmission she needed to make this attack big. Very big. Unfortunately that took time.

One of the rotted trees got lucky with it's strike, knocking Ranma away from his position. For a brief moment he panicked as he noticed the thing right next to Signum and Vita, but incredibly it seemed to be ignoring the downed girls and going after him instead. Counting his blessing Ranma focused on the rotting tree creatures instead.

"Damnit." Vita staggered as she attempted to get up, and instead nearly threw up once more. "I, can't, get, up." She growled even as she fell to the ground. A rumbling sound from the side made her eyes widen, and she saw the Ferris Wheel finally entering the battle, and heading right towards Ranma. Rickety and wobbly, it was still massive. "MOVE RANMA!"

"What?" Ranma attempted to jump out of the way, but found himself surrounded and immobilized as a tree literally fell on top of him.

Vita gave an inhuman growl as she staggered to her feet irregardless of her nausea. A shuffling sound to her side made the red-head turn and gape slightly as Signum stood beside her, eyes unfocused. The pink haired knight looked incredibly tipsy, but she still clutched her weapon. With a clank, Levantine shifted into whip form, and the knight squinted at the massive object nearly there.

With a nod to her ally, Vita gathered her magic in tandem with Signum. They both aimed, and let fly. And just as their attacks impacted into the wheel, Hayate's strike finally was ready, and was unleashed.

The world seemed to dissolve away in light. The very ground itself floating away like sand being swept away by the wind. There was no rumbling explosion, no crash of magic on matter. Just a quiet peace. Yet off in the distance they could all see a massive wooden throne surrounded by countless trees, and a small figure watching them with an unreadable expression.

All four fighters found themselves in the streets of Nerima, wide eyed. Pedestrians walked around them without a care in the world. And on the ground between them was a single red and black patterned apple.

–

–

–

Nanoha knew it was inappropriate to snicker as she set down in front of her friends. It really was, they had just been through a very harrowing battle. But she had quite honestly never seen Signum actually let herself go. Never, ever, in all her years of knowing the pink haired warrior had any of the pink-haired warriors friends actually seen the woman be anything less than controlled. There wasn't any of that control right now.

"You know, I really do love you." Signum mumbled into a very uncomfortable Ranma's shirt. "No one has ever been able to give such a good fiiight."

The warrior was quite literally draped over the uncomfortable looking teen, apparently unable to stand on her own. Fortunately for her reputation, Ranma was the only one around her right now. Vita had been taken home by Hayate to be checked out, with the apple, and since Ranma couldn't fly he had dragged the high Signum into the Tendo's dojo, after he had changed back to male of course.

Whatever she was on was wearing out slowing fortunately. Unfortunately it made he just coherent enough to corner the teen.

"Nanohaaaa." Signum called out with a slightly vacant smile. "Theress my other favorite person... Well aside from Hayate, and Fate, and Vita, and everyone else..."

"Well Ranma, if you wanted some alone time you only had to ask." Nanoha giggled slightly.

"Could you just get her home please." Ranma muttered as he gently disentangled the amorous knight.

Signum made the job harder than it should have been, but the teen managed to finally get her off him. "Awww, Nanoha!" Signum then grabbed onto the girl. "You know, I like your perfume."

"You say the sweetest things." Nanoha smiled briefly and then sobered up as she faced Ranma. "I couldn't track down Happosai. And Fate will be here soon, she couldn't find where Nayru is hidden. I know this match is important to you, but we are going to have to interfere."

"Tch." Ranma muttered and sighed with a slightly frustrated expression. "All right. When and if the old man shows Fate can get first crack. There isn't enough time for you to get home and back before he slips away again."

"Come on Signum, lets get you home." Nanoha muttered as she floated into the air, practically dragging the knight.

"We get to see Hayateee again!" Signum chiriped.

"She's never going to live this down." The pig-tailed teen said quietly as the other mage lifted off and into the air.

Watching the two slowly float off and then gradually pick up speed, Ranma's mouth quirked into a half-smirk. He really didn't much feel like fighting more to be honest, and a part of his heart twitched at the thought, but sometimes his pride got the better of him. Like right now to be honest.

"You can come down perv." The teen called out. "Nanoha can't sense our chi from that distance, and Fate's going to search until the very last moment."

"Ahhhh." Happosai breathed out a small cloud of smoke from his perch in the ceiling. "I was starting to give up all hope. So reliant on their fancy tricks that they forget simple things like awareness."

"Nanoha and Fate are enforcers. Point them and things are broken. Fate can investigate, but she's not so good on the whole hunting aspect." Ranma shrugged as he looked up at the old man and narrowed his eyes. "They are good at what they do. Now if you want a hunter-killer, you use me."

"I wonder how literal you mean that boy." The old man dropped down and looked at the teen. "You've got that edge that means you just might." Here he shrugged. "Not as if it matters."

"Your right. It doesn't." Here Ranma's form blurred towards the grandmaster, and was just as quickly knocked back.

Happosai cackled. "Starting before the match begins are you?"

Bouncing off the wall effortlessly, Ranma then bounced off the floor and then used the ceiling to angle himself directly at the old man. "Anything Goes after all. If I remember correctly, the only terms are that I beat you."

Happosai sidestepped and pulled out a small water balloon. "A student after my own heart!" With a splash the balloon impacted against the teen. "Tell you what, let me rest my head against your bosom and I will let you do all the beating you want!"

"I think I will just beat you and save myself time." Ranma growled out as he shifted into a she and pivoted into a lunge.

"Careful! Don't want to damage the lovely dojo too!" Happosai jumped above the lunge and landed onto the girl's back.

With a twist Ranma's body whirled and Happosai was force to jump away. Then the two fighters blurred in a series of strikes and counter strikes. Just as quickly as they started, Happosai was knocked away and into the dojo yard. There he took the time to puff on his pipe as Ranma stepped outside warily.

"You know, in that form and without your tricks you can't win." The old man puffed quietly as he tapped out the contents of his pipe. "Bit of a shame really. Without it, you would have a better than even I would think. I'm just too old to keep up with all the new fangled tricks your generation is coming up with."

"Giving up and lying down all ready?" Ranma began to circle warily.

"Eh, I don't think I have much choice really." The old man shrugged. "You see, that lovely little sleeping spell I put on your artifact is just about done."

"Nayru?" Ranma's barely heard the old man as his device sleepily contacted him.

"And since your blonde lovely is looking for the device." The old man sighed and put away his pipe.

"Plasma Smasher." The impact of yellow light was brutal and quick. Contained too. It also left no doubt whatsoever that the old man was being attacked.

"Ouch." Happosai croaked out.

"Restrict Bind." Fate set down with a very displeased expression as several dozen yellow bands snapped around the grandmaster. "You are under arrest."

Happosai cackled slightly even as his air was restricted from the binds. "Well my boy. Looks like you didn't beat me."

Ranma's eyebrow twitched. "I despise you."

–

–

The official rubbed his temples as he looked through the glass at the old man sitting contently in the room. Bad enough that the enforcer girl had brought in that Ukyo girl. At least she was provably in need of help, with the way her family had dropped all claims and the displayed behavior. With a bit of creative meddling they could conceivably argue that they were providing sanctuary and assistance to a poor delusional girl. This was an entirely different area. This was getting into criminality, and their treaty with Earth specifically stated that they were only allowed to intervene with world endangering events.

"All right, the device 'theft' might get him a few years on some prison in earth." The official really wished he wasn't the one that had to deal with this. "But the summoning crime is far harder to prove. We don't even have recordings from the devices due to some sort of interference. All we have is the testimony of three officers and one independent. That's usually enough... If there were any signs of injury. As it is, it's fully possible that the old man's testimony is true and the 'demon-god' was just an unusually powerful summon that he summoned with express orders to just distract and not damage."

"A summon capable of fighting Ranma, Hayate, Signum, and Vita to a standstill is just unusually powerful? They certainly reported that it was a life and death fight." Linda raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

The official's eyes darted around as if to be sure the two were alone behind the glass. "Privately I agree with you. But you have to realize that right now you and several people stationed on earth are not exactly well liked by higher echelons. If we try to push for this guy to get thrown into the high security area we need to keep him locked up without serious evidence, we will get some serious push back."

The teal haired woman sighed as she looked through the glass at the old man contentedly sipping at the tea. "And he's not going to help us by looking meek and harmless. Since he has the same style as Ranma he's nearly impossible to anticipate, I'm honestly surprised we still have him locked up."

The official shrugged. "I don't pretend to know criminals. I do know politics. Right now while everyone low level loves your girls, the higher levels are a bit more mixed."

"The defense forces right?" Lindy looked back to the man in charge of the ship they were on. "I've heard rumblings that they are getting annoyed by the naval forces taking the better talent again."

With an embarrassed chuckle the official replied. "Keep in mind that several naval mages are considered celebrities nowadays. The ground forces are having some serious trouble recruiting proper talent nowadays. And they are the ones that control most of the prisons."

The woman nodded and turned back to the official. "I have a plan for that actually. But I still need to have this Happosai locked up."

"I think I can arrange for him to be charged with theft, attempted battery, and maybe reckless magic use." The official looked up to the ceiling in thought. "It's going to be up to the Japanese government if they want to defend him or take him for their own legal system. I'm afraid I don't know any of Earth's justice systems or politics though, so it's going to be a bit of a toss up. Best I can guarantee is that he's kept on board this ship for a year or so while we get paperwork through."

Lindy's mouth twitched. "The Japanese doesn't want anything to do with this man. Apparently he's got dirt on half the government and the other half is absolutely terrified. They will go through the motions, but he won't be inconvenienced long."

"I hate to say it, but I can't lock him up forever because he might do something evil." The TSAB man sighed and looked through the glass again. "The mages stationed on Earth are all very powerful. For all we say the rules apply the same to everyone, it's rather different when they have such magical power. My best advice is that you find some serious intent to kill or harm, and send it to someone up high. After that I can send him somewhere where he won't be released for a long time."

The teal haired woman tapped her lips as she looked through the glass again. "I will have to put Fate on it. Since she's wrapped up her investigation of that Nabiki girl, she should be glad to have a relatively straightforward goal."

"The Enforcer assigned to the Jail-case?" The official straightened up. "I heard that she was letting others go after the mad-man for now. So she was chasing a Nabiki?"

"More taking a working vacation." Lindy chuckled slightly. "She was attempting to relax, but a minor bit of slime was attempting to play around with her and her friends. Instead she started investigating and gathering evidence. It was good practice for working with foreign law enforcement actually."

"Ah." The man tapped nodded and went to attention. "Well Ma'am if you can find the summoning array we can probably stick the old man with something that will let us get him locked up. Until then though, I need to manage my ship."

"Thank you for your time Captain." Lindy nodded as the man left. Then with a sigh, she began to leave as well. Time to contact Fate.

Inside the prison cell Happosai chuckled thoughtfully to himself and continued to sip at his tea. He had lasted for years inside a cave with nothing but his thoughts. A few years here and there just lying around in a cell were nothing. In fact, it gave him a perfect way to ponder some very new thoughts. He really did have to get loose sometime in the decade and look for that potion of youth again. His back was starting to kill him.

–

–

Fate frowned as she looked around the dingy room that served as Happosai's sanctuary. It was messy, covered with female undergarments, and had no sense of order whatsoever. There was no rhyme or reason to the mess, no definition. It was just a chaotic mess. A mess that she and Nanoha had to go through. It was almost impossible to tell it had been a high-class suite in the area.

"Ok, yick." The brown haired girl frowned as well. "And since we have to find the summoning circle we can't use any search magic in here either."

Fate nodded at her friend. "It should at least be on the floor, but there is a good chance he erased it as well, so we have to clear out all of this by hand."

"Can't we get help doing it at least?" Nanoha stuck out her tongue in disgust as she prodded a pile of cloth.

"Only TSAB officers if we want the charges to stick." The blonde enforcer replied softly. "This is very delicate work right now, and anyone else might interfere with the proof."

Nanoha sighed. "All right, but we need gloves and lots of trash bags."

Fate nodded in reply and began to walk around the room slowly in a search pattern. "If you could? I want to be sure that we have this place sealed and recorded."

"Yep." The brown haired mage walked out the room to speak with a maid.

Inside the room Fate concentrated and focused on her device. Fortunately she was well versed in quite a few spells other than standard battle spells. Right now she was doing a very low key survey designed to detect anything faintly magical. Much like an erased summoning circle.

Instead of the mild aura of a cast spell she expected however, there was a chaotic, messy, and disorientating mess of various spells and artifacts. Fate paused as she processed the input and looked around the room again with considerably more caution. If this was where Happosai had cast the spell, it was almost pure luck that the man had managed to summon anything, rather than blow himself and the house sky high.

"Got the bags and gloves Fate!" Nanoha chirped as she walked in, and blinked as she looked at Fate.

Fate nodded to her friend and took a set of gloves. "Be careful, and if you find something non-cloth, don't touch it before examining it."

The brown-haired teen tilted her head and looked at Fate quizzically. "You got a lot of feedback huh?"

"The place is a lot like a minefield." The blonde sighed and began to carefully pull away the undergarments, and place them in a garbage bag.

"Oh," Nanoha replied with a frown.

The two worked in silence for a fair amount of time, but the entire process was slow going. If they could have just dumped the items wholesale into the bags they might have been finished within an hour, but they had to be very sure that nothing magical made it into the bags.

"Oh wow, this thing has a nasty charm." Nanoha held up a bracelet with an appreciative glance.

"Charm?" Fate looked back from her pile. "What do you mean?"

"Love-charm." The mage turned the bracelet over in her hands. "One of the more exotic magical afflictions. You learn about them in the more advanced defense classes since they take a lot to properly get going, and most of them are temporary." With a finger she pointed out one particular pearl set into the item. "This one could last something like fifty years if you ate it."

Fate shuddered at the thought as she found a small mirror compact. "That sounds horrifying."

"Eh." Nanoha shrugged. "It's not as bad as the death touch style. They both are pretty useless against higher ranked mages anyway."

"I know that's not in the defense classes." Fate looked up at Nanoha suspiciously.

The girl giggled embarrassed. "Yuuno told me about it. He's been looking up old styles of magic, and we talk about them occasional. The death touch style is an old one that focused on killing touched body parts. It died when magic barriers came about."

"I did not know that." The blonde turned back to the small compact and finally picked it up as Bardiche sent her the scan report. "Huh, a self contained dimensional barrier."

"Oooh." Nanoha moved to look at the mirror. "The TSAB isn't even able to get them that small. How did Earth manage it?"

Fate's mouth quirked as she looked at the item in question. "Earth is just very surprising in general I believe."

Nanoha giggled slightly. "Well, I'm rather glad about that. Getting told that I'm from a backwater no-name planet gets a bit old every now and again."

"Someone said that?" The blond mage didn't change her expression, but Nanoha felt a sudden fission of static across her skin.

"Well..." Nanoha scratched her head. "Some of them might imply it when I say where I came from."

Fate nodded in reply, still not changing expression. "I see."

The brown-haired girl smiled shakily and turned back to her pile quickly. "Anyway! I have a few pictures of Signum before she recovered from that hallucinogen."

"Really?" Like that, the feeling of static disappeared.

"Yep, there is one of her riding Zafira, half a dozen of her draped over people. One of her suffocating Ranma through a hug, and a few of her groping people." Nanoha smirked. "Hayate was the one who got those."

Fate smiled happily. "Thank you Nanoha, you are a true friend."

"Of course." The brown-haired girl chirped, and blinked as she uncovered a mid-sized box. "And, I think I know how you can repay me."

The blonde blinked at her friend. Suddenly a sense of doom seemed to pervade the air. "What?"

Nanoha smirked and picked up the box. "You help me have fun with these."

"Jusenkyo Packets?"

–

–

_Nabiki Tendo_

_Offenses: Petty Theft, Blackmail, Extortion, Various other petty crimes_

_Punishment: Parole 10 years, fine of 100,000 yen, court order to never again own a camera_

_Personal Notes: It's not exactly the greatest punishment for the girl, but she's still fairly young, and a punishment like this is likely to linger a long time. I wouldn't even bother keeping a note of her if she hadn't been investigated by Fate. While my little sister has barely needed my assistance, it does pay to be sure that her enemies stay put down, and don't go after her again._

_While I don't believe she will be a threat again, it's worth noting that the girl has the potential to be far worse than she was. I give it a fifty fifty chance that left uninterrupted she would have advanced into the crime rings that are so ubiquitous in Japan. That said, she could have been far more vicious than she reputably was, so I will mostly just be sure that she doesn't get into contact with Fate again, and maybe see about getting the police to keep an eye on her._

_Her father seems to be very distraught over the girl's behavior and punishment, but is being surprisingly stable over the girl's arrest, and has actually come out of the entire incident far more stable than he went into it in. This was reputable a very large surprise. Other than that though, there is little else to note about the girl._

_Happosai_

_Offenses: Too many to note in here_

_Punishment: Currently 50 years in a high security lab environment, subject to change_

_Personal Notes: It's rare that mother specifically asks me to intervene in a case, but this one was actually needed. I don't like throwing my weight around, and at my rank there is a lot of it, but in this case I do believe I needed to. In the grand scheme of things the old man is harmless. An object of harassment certainly, a petty annoyance definitely, but compared to mages capable of leveling cities in minutes, he's pretty tame. _

_However, he's got just enough knowledge to possibly become something far more dangerous. I don't pretend to know a lot about summoning, but the array Fate found in his room was called a contract-binding circle, with an open invitation. According to the techno-babble you just put power into the thing, and whatever wanted it had to obey the contract in exchange for the power._

_Normally that just calls up a minor thing. Extra-dimensional creatures really need a fair amount of power to even care to manifest, and it would take a powerhouse like Fate or Nanoha to properly summon something dangerous. However, it's still an open invitation. The TSAB doesn't officially acknowledge 'gods.' There are however, records of summoned creatures capable of leveling planets._

_That this man was capable of summoning something capable of doing what this creature did is very worry some._

_Mad Lady Decay_

_Crimes: Assault of several TSAB officials_

_Punishment: None noted, summoned creature_

_I don't normally bother putting summons in this log. They are usually tools of the summoner, and quite frankly possible to eliminate by just disabling the summoner themselves. This 'Mad Lady' is a bit different. Whatever 'she' is is up for debate. The best source on this creature has actually been Ranma, but the information about her is couched in religious tones._

_The basics of it are she's a corrupted plant spirit, driven mad by loneliness and pain. She holds the position of the classic trickster spirit with a more malicious bent. She's also apparently called on to ease pain, and remove suffering, so it's hard to really classify her as good or bad. Hearing about the battle from an outside perspective makes me believe that she wasn't exactly going for the kill. That said, I am personally noting that she should be retreat or kill on sight. She's not an opponent I would send any ground forces against. A battleship would be far more suitable._

_It's worth noting that she's considered a deity in the High Summoner's world. That world has cut off almost all contact with the TSAB aside from two diplomats. I actually attempted to contact them about this being, and only got one very unhelpful reply._

"_Every action has a reaction."_

* * *

_**AN: Ranma arc almost done. Thanks for keeping with me. One more arc after this arc, and then I will declare this finished.**  
_


	16. Chapter 16

"How is she?" Soun asked worriedly as he puffed away at his cigarette, his fourth one in the hour. "Is she hurt? Does she need anything?"

"Mr Tendo." The officer sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "For the third time, she's about as well as can be expected. The prosecution against her have a lot of evidence, and the leader isn't from our area, so he's going to want to score a big victory."

The man in question took a deep breath from his cigarette and finally flicked it away. "My baby girl..." A few tears dripped down his face before he shook his head. "So some hotshot is going to decide to make an example of her isn't he?"

"Likely." The officer replied with a grimace. "I know how much you love your daughters, but this time you might want to let her go. As well regarded as you are, your daughter has done a fair amount of blemishing of your image, saving her would end whatever influence you have around here."

Soun frowned and looked out of the small office he was in. While Genma had managed to forge his body, Soun had taken the path of forging his influence. That had fallen by the wayside with the death of his wife, but it was a testament to his capability that even now he had favors to call on. He could probably get his daughter off with nothing but a warning, perhaps a fine. She was young and pretty, and put bluntly a terrific actor. But the evidence that Fate had gathered was enough that it would break whatever influence he had left.

He would do it in a heartbeat, if it wasn't the fact that his daughter had done this to herself. Some part of Soun blamed himself. A lot of it did actually. So many years in grief. Shattered. Looking back at it, he wondered where the years had gone, and what he had done.

Another part of him raged at the intruders that had shattered his world. It wondered what he could do to attack those that had injured his babies. It would be so easy to have a few petty victories. Maybe one or two large ones. A few petty ashes stolen from his families home.

Soun took another breath as he looked around the small office again. A tiny thing filled with paperwork and a few pictures. "Do you have a daughter?"

"No." The officer frowned and settled back, wondering if he was witnessing his friends fall. "My wife and I are still trying."

"Then you can't know how much this will hurt." Soun sighed and took a seat in front of the desk. "Here is what we are going to do. I want you to call the man in charge of the case. Tell him I am going to negotiate a deal for my daughter."

"He's not going to want to deal. In his opinion it's a home run case." The officer pointed out.

Mr Tendo shrugged. "He's young right? Self-righteous in his certainty that he can do no wrong."

"Five years prosecuting actually." The police man replied with a frown, not sure where this was going.

Soun chuckled. "Ahhh, I haven't done this in so long." With a sigh he looked at the ceiling. "That's why the young ones think they can come in and do whatever they want."

"You aren't going to be able to get your daughter off doing this you know." The officer calmly pointed out.

"I'm actually going to offer him something more than what he can get by wringing out my daughter." Mr Tendo got to his feet. "Tell him that I am offering double the normal sentence in community service. If he doesn't take it, I will simply start calling a few reporters around our area. It wouldn't be too hard to lapse back into grieving widow. After that, well..." Here the man shrugged. "Popular opinion would crucify him. It won't keep my little girl from being prosecuted, but it would let her out early. And remove his chance at a career in the future."

"If you think that would work." The officer frowned at the man. "A lot of it hinges on you still having your old influence."

"That you have nothing to worry about." Soun walked out of the room with a serious look.

It was a start. Mr Tendo thought as he walked out. It was a start.

* * *

–

–

Ranma yawned as she reclined on the beach in female form. Normally she wouldn't be caught dead like this, but her device had been brought in for tuneup and calibration after it's theft. So here she was, spending an enforced vacation on the beach in female form. Fortunately it wasn't all bad. Mostly just irritating that she had to wear a girls swim suit.

"All right!" Nanoha cheered as Fate came into view holding something.

It was a small gathering of people. The Wolkenritter, Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, Arf, and Hayate. When you could teleport between dimensions, you could find a deserted beach quite easily. In fact, this particular planet was notable for being totally empty of anything remotely threatening.

"What do you have there?" Hayate asked curiously as Fate held up several small squirt guns. "Those look like they have some very interesting spells on them."

Fate nodded at Nanoha who grabbed one of them with an evil cackle. "Nanoha thought them up. We found something called Jusenkyo Packets. They are temporary curses like the one that turns me into a dog. Pretty harmless, and far weaker though."

Nanoha pressed her hand to the gun and a small flare of magic lit up. "With a bit of spell-work we figured out how to make them do a sort of hour transformation. It's a neat party toy."

With that, the girl spritzed Hayate with a smirk. The girl leapt back with surprise, and then looked down at herself. Or rather himself now. Hayate as a male didn't seem that different actually. Apparently the girl made a pretty effeminate boy.

"You..." Hayate coughed at his new voice, an incredibly deep and totally out of place tone. "Well, at least you added a clothes change to that."

"Huh," Nanoha blinked at the change. "Not bad Hayate."

Sighing, Fate handed a squirt gun to Hayate, and ignored the shriek of faux terror from Nanoha as the girl ran away. She also ignored the meow, and then the moo that responded back. Though she did check over her shoulder to make sure that the two were all right. Seeing a cow levitate a squirt gun was actually rather entertaining. Fate did have to note that the clothing change made animal morphs strange.

"Anyone else?" Fate ignored the squack as another transformation occurred.

"No thank you." Yuuno replied back as he watched in horrified fascination. "I already can transform."

"Ditto." Arf chimed in and dug into a picnic basket. "'Sides, those two look like they are really having fun by themselves."

"HEY!" Ranma's voice caused everyone to look up as the girl rolled away and then jumped.

Apparently the two girls had decided that other people were far more fun to change. The martial artist glared at the duck and the ram that Nanoha and Hayate had changed into. The squirt guns levitated menacingly.

The girl blurred as the squirt guns were triggered, and then the chase was on. With the three of them running down the beach.

"Yeah, I think they are having a load of fun by themselves." Vita muttered quietly and poked Arf. "I want some."

"Turkey ok?" The familiar held out a sandwich.

Fate smiled softly and sat down next to Yuuno, who was reading quietly. "I'm glad you could come."

"I had a lot of vacation time saved." The blonde boy shrugged with a smile.

A shriek of outrage seemed to indicate that Ranma had finally gotten tagged by the two mischief makers. Everyone else ignored them.

"We don't see you enough Yuuno." The blonde girl looked at the boy. "Video and letters aren't enough really."

"I try, but to be honest the Library takes a lot of my time." The reply back was rather neutral, Yuuno was as much a workaholic as Nanoha sometimes.

Fate rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm going to have Nanoha start ambushing you and dragging you out."

The boy coughed with a small blush. "While I don't object, I think that would be a bit embarrassing."

"Thats the point." Fate replied.

A spritz of water sprayed Fate and Vita. Fate shifted into a male. The long hair on him really didn't suit the hulking build he suddenly had. The now man ignored the change, pausing only to glance at the troublemakers, who where now a pair of smug looking cats. Behind them, a horse had flopped on the ground with an exasperated expression. Well, as exasperated as a horse could look.

Vita's change was the real surprise though. Even as she squawked with rage, her form shifted into a very familiar form. How she looked as an adult. This caused a pause in the mischief of the two.

'Huh' Nanoha's telepathy sounded in their heads. 'That has possibilities.'

Vita looked down at herself with a slightly stunned expression.

That pretty much ended the play with the squirt guns. There was a bit more fooling around by Nanoha and Hayate, but everyone was back in their normal forms shortly there after. Well, Vita, still in her adult form managed to confiscate the extra gun and apparently had plans for it, but everyone else was soon back in their normal form.

Soon though, everyone but Fate, Ranma and Yuuno had to leave. As the sun began to set they built a large bonfire and got out blankets to relax. In the dusk they huddled close, and simply talked quietly.

"Reminds me of the good times in my recovery." Nanoha finally stated quietly. "Long nights like this with nothing but a fire and company."

Fate nodded with a melancholy expression. "It was... Peaceful."

Ranma shrugged and stayed silent. He was in male form now since there wasn't a chance of getting wet. Yet for once he had little to say. In front of him Yuuno lay in ferret form, half asleep and curled up.

"A lot more of it was bad." The brown-haired girl finally spoke again and laid next to Ranma was a sigh. "I'm glad I am fully recovered, but I never want to do training like that again."

"I never want to see it happen again." Fate replied and lay on the other side of Ranma.

The boy closed his eyes against the memories. The smell of the sizzling flesh that teaching the technique required, the screams. If it hadn't been self inflicted it would have been considered torture. Yet the results were worth it. An instinctive healing that removed what would otherwise be crippling injuries. Without it, Nanoha's capabilities would have taken a permanent hit. He... Wasn't willing to let that happen.

Nanoha stared into the fire with a small smile. "We have to do another trip like that again sometime though. Something with just a few people. Maybe Yuuno and Arf too."

"If you could tear her away from her babysitting." Ranma commented finally.

"It's her nature." Yuuno interjected sleepily. "Dog familiars tend to be fanatically loyal and dedicated to their masters. Since Fate doesn't really need her, she's assisting the family instead."

Fate smiled softly and poked Yuuno on the nose, waking him up. "She's my darling friend. What she does, always pleases me."

Yuuno flicked an ear and opened his eyes. "I didn't mean anything bad about it. It's just an observable behavior for various familiar types. Cat familiars tend to be used for tasks requiring independence. Dogs for loyalty or dedication. Birds are used for speed and observation. Rats are used for tasks requiring subtly or endurance. And then you have Dolphins which are used for aquatic tasks. Though the last one isn't very common at all."

"I know." Fate smiled briefly. "Just reminding you."

"Ah." Yuuno gave nod and then curled up again.

Nanoha giggled briefly and smirked at the ferret. "You know, maybe I should take lessons from you about being a ferret. My curse might be a pain, but it's kinda fun being so small sometimes."

The transformed mage in question perked up and got to a standing position. "Well, I can probably teach you the totemic magics required to do a full transformation like mine. It mostly takes time and a specific mindset. The curse might be a serious hindrance, but it does probably force the mindset."

"Huh," Nanoha blinked and pursed her lips in thought. "I think I might take you up on that. Do you have a good timeframe we can get started on that?"

Yuuno tilted his head up in thought. "I think I can arrange a few hours on your Earth Sundays. Considering the travel time it's probably the only thing that we can arrange."

To the side of Nanoha, Fate nudged Ranma with a small smirk. The boy rolled his eyes but stifled a chuckle.

"I can manage that." Nanoha chirped with a smile. "We can go around and do a few things when we are done as well! There are plenty of things on Earth that I haven't been able to show you yet. With Fate and Ranma all in Nerima I've got a fair bit of free time Sundays."

Ranma snickered slightly. "Yeah, thats the time that Akane, Suzuka, and Alisa go off and do their own thing isn't it?"

"How'd you learn about that?" The Brown-haired mage turned to Ranma with a questioning expression. "I've just learned about that myself."

"That's 'cause it hadn't happened till this weekend." The boy replied back with a shrug. "The three apparently hit it off pretty well when they came over, and since they don't do the combat stuff we do, they bonded over that."

"Oh." Nanoha's expression went a bit sad at that.

"They are still friends." Fate interjected softly. "But sometimes people drift away. We have very different interests nowadays."

"It's still sad." Nanoha sighed softly. "I just realized how much they have been drifting away."

Ranma grimaced in reply. "It's part of moving on. Had to do it a lot when I was training."

"It doesn't mean you have to like it." Yuuno interjected. "Or for that matter you have to lose contact. I still exchange letters with people I met while traveling."

"I thought you were in the library most of the time?" The blonde haired mage asked softly.

"Hardly." The ferret replied. "At first I was, but I got called out a lot to identify, contain, and excavate discovered artifacts. Most of them are just old items, but there were a lot of Lost Loggia."

"Huh." Nanoha chuckled. "My little ferret has been having adventures without me."

Yuuno shook his head with a sigh. "I honestly wish it were so. Most of it was boring. Well... I did have three or four adventures. Nothing big."

All three people in front of the ferret raised their eyebrows. Finally Ranma spoke with a smirk. "I think you've been holding out on us."

"No, really! None of it was as dangerous as the Wolkenritter." The transformed mage waved his tiny paws to emphasize.

"That leaves a lot of ground to cover." Fate chimed in with a small smirk. "There isn't that much more dangerous than that."

The ferret gave a slightly sheepish expression. "Well... I suppose I can tell you about some of the more interesting incidents I had."

"Story time!" Nanoha chirped.

–

–

–

"House calls are not usually something I do." Doctor Valentine stated calmly as he examined the small squirt gun. "However this was interesting enough that I made time in my schedule."

Vita, in her adult form, stood in front of the man with a stoic expression. She was attempting to keep her tongue under control right now, so she let the comment pass by her without incident. Though it was pretty obvious that she had a few biting comments.

The man turned around and began to adjust a console next to the bed. They were in a small clinic that had been commandeered by the Wolkenritter to deal with their unusual medical issues. Not that there were many since they were in essence constructs, but it never hurt to be careful. It had proved it's worth after the incident with Decay at least.

"Pretty simple transformation magic." Valentine finally commented. "It is very notable in how tiny and energy efficient it is. I can see how this is a derivative of the curse that your companions had been afflicted with. It's basically the same thing without being self sustaining."

Vita nodded in reply. "I just want to know if there is a way to keep it going." She grimaced slightly as she continued. "I already got a temporary measure, but it's really starting to suck being small all the time. As well as being considered a child by people who don't know better."

"I can see how that would be unpleasant." The doctor frowned. "I swear whomever made your book was either high or drunk. The lack of customization for the guardians is probably the least of it's issue. You really have no idea how lucky you are."

"I know." Vita leaned against the bed. "Trust me Doctor, we all know how lucky we are."

The man shrugged in reply. "Da." He blinked for a moment. "Wait you have another way of changing form? The way your construction works is that any permanent changes are impossible due to the constant refreshing of your form. It's like trying to change a river by dumping dye in it. Nothing should last nearly as long as this temporary curse."

Vita blinked and pulled out the necklace she had gotten from that disastrous mission with Signum and Ranma. "Yeah, this. It's a neat trinket, but it only works at night."

Valentine grabbed at the necklace quickly with an intense expression. The quick light of an analysis spell flowed around it and his expression changed from intense to frustrated.

"Gah! It's one of those extra-dimensional faith based pieces of impossible gobbledygook!" He finally hissed out in frustration before visibly getting himself under control. "I'm familiar peripherally with that work. It's a rather new magical framework from a recent contact. The thing is it makes absolutely NO SENSE!"

Vita managed to snatch the necklace back before the man did anything damaging. Clutching it to herself, the woman looked at the doctor flatly. "Well, it works doesn't it?"

"Combat Mages!" The Doctor spat the phrase like a curse. "Never realizing the underlying theories and precise formatting necessary for their spells to work just right." Twitching the doctor stopped himself again and shook his head. "Ack! Now I'm yelling. My apologies, it's just the particular style that the necklace is based on is still impossible for us to properly decipher. In fact, it's going to take at least a decade before we can adequately decipher what is necessary and what is just useless additions put in because their religion says so."

The Knight raised an eyebrow. "So you can't do anything with the squirt gun, or the necklace?"

"Well, in theory I might." Valentine frowned and looked at the console next to him. "But to be honest I couldn't get it done in a reasonable amount of time. Especially alone. You have to understand, you are pretty unique. We simply don't have enough data to do enough manipulation safely. And the research it would take is simply a waste of resources." Here the doctor grimaced. "That's blunter than even I would like, but it's the truth. You work, and you work well. We just can't take the years it would take to make you work differently and correctly."

Vita sighed in reply. "I suppose it was too much to hope for. Sorry for bugging you doctor."

The man waved his hand. "The squirt gun toys are entertaining enough to make me come out here honestly. The creators of those could make a pretty penny marketing the spell-work on the transformation magic."

"I will tell them that." Vita began to leave the room, leaving the man to continue his work on the console.

"Oh!" Valentine's exclamation made the woman turn. "You might actually have a bit of luck if you take that curse magic to the same place you got that necklace from. I might not be able to understand that faith based rubbish yet, but if it changes your form like you state it does, then the creator had a pretty good understanding of what you are. They might have better luck."

Vita frowned even as she nodded to the man. It might be something to pursue. It would also be difficult. She would have to speak with Hayate to see if it was worth pursuing.

–

–

Nighttime in Nanoha's neighborhood was best described as serene. The place was as suburban as it got in Japan, and illegal activity around the area was almost absurdly low. Even activity around the place at night was almost something to cause alarm, if it got noticed.

Naturally this made it almost absurdly easy for things that happened at night to be overlooked. Especially when they were as stealthy as Shampoo. The purple haired girl barely needed to exert effort to be unnoticeable as she strode through the streets towards her target.

After reaching the building that Nanoha lived in, she leapt, quite easily to the window where she knew the girl was sleeping. The window was pried open stealthily, and then the warrior simply sat at the entrance of the window with a calm expression. For a moment she just watched, her enemy sleep. Then she flicked a small pebble at the girl's forehead.

"Huh? Wasssablele?" The girl lurched up with a sleepy expression, totally out of it.

When her eyes finally found Shampoo that sleepy cleared abruptly, and the girl tumbled out of bed, lurching towards Raging Heart with a panicked expression. Shampoo made no effort to do anything as the girl moved, and indeed seemed to be almost amused.

"Is not here for fight." She spoke quietly a half smirk on her face. "Would maybe like one real one before she left, but Shampoo knows her limits."

"What are you doing here then?!" The girl half yelled, half whispered.

"Nanoha? Is something wrong?" Her fathers voice came from outside the door, making the brown-haired girl snap her attention to the door with an even more panicked expression.

"Is just visiting!" The girl called out. "You can put away the sword, Shampoo is unarmed, and without malice."

There was a beat of silence in the room as Nanoha blinked at the door then at Shampoo, totally confused. Finally Nanoha's father spoke quietly. "I would hope so. I am quite rusty after all, it would be a shame for me to forget to be gentle."

The warrior woman smiled broadly. "You and daughter are much alike. Shampoo wont move from window."

There wasn't a reply.

Nanoha's head tilted slightly. "What the heck?!"

"You not know?" The purple haired girl tilted her head and blinked with a clueless clueless. "Your father is warrior like Ranma. Could tell halfway across the block. One of those sneak ninja type. Shampoo guesses he is retired then."

The brown-haired mage looked shocked for a moment before visibly putting it out of her mind. "Ok, obviously I have to talk with him about that later, but first, WHY are you here?!"

"Shampoo is leaving soon. As soon as dawn actually." The girl pulled a rolled up scroll out and rolled it in her hands thoughtfully. "Great-grandmother says that she has gotten everything she could expect from the experience and Shampoo has to leave."

Nanoha crossed her arms underneath her breasts and glared at the other girl. "I honestly don't know why you are telling me this."

Shampoo sighed and looked up and out of the window, away from Nanoha. "Shampoo doesn't know either. Maybe regret? Maybe rage that this one has never managed to get proper revenge? Perhaps this one is feeling a bit of sadness that this chapter of her life has to end. She is going to be leader soon, and there is so much left to do."

The warrior woman set the scroll on the floor of Nanoha's room and rolled it towards her. Nanoha looked at it warily for a moment before finally deciding to pick it up. "What is this?"

"Is tracking technique. The one Shampoo can use to find you. The one we can use to find anyone we have met." The purple haired girl grinned a strange grin. "Shampoo thinks that you could use it no? Perhaps counter it. That would be a sight to see. Would have to tell her about it if you do."

"Isn't your village based on it's techniques? You are essentially giving us a part of your people for free." The brown-haired mage rolled open the scroll to examine the contents.

Shampoo shrugged and began to roll out of the window, but not before sending one long glance back at Nanoha. "You is enemy. We take piece of you, you take piece of us. Scales even now this one thinks. Perhaps next time we meet something different happen." With that the girl dropped out of the window.

Nanoha blinked as the girl left. She honestly had no idea what had happened there, but she was very confused. She barely noticed the door open.

"Ah." The sound made Nanoha turn towards her father.

"Don't worry. You might understand someday." He patted her on the head and began to leave, leaving Nanoha with still more questions that she had no idea of how to ask.

–

–

'Sooo, my dad's apparently a retired ninja.' Nanoha's voice came over the link the three shared early morning as they were all getting ready for school.

Ranma's reply had no surprise, but it did seem to convey a feeling of realization. 'Huh, that makes a lot of sense actually.'

'Really?' Fate's mental voice carried a bit of disbelief.

'What?' Nanoha added quickly.

'Yeah, he always had this way of making my hair stand up when he had to get his point across. Nice to know really.' Came the pig-tailed martial artist's reply.

'My dad is a ninja...' Somehow Ranma's confirmation made it seem a bit more real to Nanoha.

The reply from the male was mostly nonchalant. 'Eh, don't worry about it. Maybe he knows a few tricks he can pass on.'

'Already going towards the techniques I see.' Fate's reply was tinted with amusement.

'Hey! Techniques are important to Martial Clans. If Nanoha's part of one, getting him to share it is really important, it's sort of like passing on the family legacy.' Was Ranma's rejoinder.

'I think big brother has gotten most of that actually. I've got all the magic, but he's been trained in the sword techniques all his life.' The brown-haired mage interjected.

'...I remember seeing your brother and sister practice when I was over. You were invited a few times, but you dropped when we started working on the higher level spells together.' Fate replied thoughtfully.

'Hey yeah! Those sword techniques were really fun! Huh, so those are ninja techniques...' Ranma's voice had a tint of amusement.

Nanoha shot back quickly. 'You got the introductory stuff. Big brother was just getting into the advanced forms when you came around, and he was your primary teacher.'

'To be fair, most techniques probably can't stand up to our level of magic.' The blonde-haired mage interjected in a mild attempt to keep the peace.

Ranma didn't really care as he replied, and it showed. 'I had to work through some pretty strong roadblocks to get to where I could compete consistently with you two. A normal martial style would be pretty useless. Doesn't mean it wouldn't have fun tricks.'

'I think... I still feel kinda bad. Like I've missed a part of my family completely.' Nanoha finally spoke quietly.

'Hey, don't worry about it Nanoha.' Ranma's mental voice was unexpectedly soothing. 'They probably didn't want to bother you with it. With all the magic stuff we got into, it probably just slipped by the wayside.'

'They still love you and care for you.' Fate chimed in.

'I know, but I've been so invested in the TSAB that I have let everything in my family pass to the wayside. I'm just noticing that now.' Nanoha's voice sounded subdued as she sent to her friends.

Ever upbeat, Ranma's didn't hesitate in his reply. 'Still got time. Hey, maybe you can add a few mage tricks to the family style. I know a good barrier would upgrade most martial styles from obsolete to really dangerous.'

'That might actually be interesting. Didn't you say that Genma received an offer to design a training course for low level mages? We could use this to get an idea of what we could do.' There was a tint of interest transmitting from Fate.

'I thought you were going to be going full enforcer? That was more for just me and pops.' The martial artist was slightly confused.

'It's fairly easy to get a posting with less travel. To be honest I was going to switch to that after the current investigation was over. Jail Scaglietti is far too dangerous to allow to run loose, and I'm one of the highest class mages in the enforcers currently.' Came from the enforcer in question as she shifted into a lecturing tone.

Which went right over his head. 'Ah. Well, I know Nanoha's gunning for that training position, but I think this should be Nanoha's thing.'

'Hey, that doesn't mean I wouldn't want help.' The girl's voice was slightly panicked.

Ranma's transmission had no sympathy. 'Family styles can be really important. 'Sides, you can use it to get involved in your family again. Let em become a better part of your life and stuff.'

'That is a surprisingly good idea.' Fate chimed in.

A giggle came from Nanoha. 'Ranma can come up with good ideas! Sometimes. Not often, but sometimes.'

'Thanks for the vote of confidence. As for the offer to design that style, me and pops got some stuff already started. The bastard is prodding me to get married before he gives me good advice for the base still. Still think I'm too young for that.' There was a noted grumble.

'Think he would take a promise to do it later instead?' Fate sent after a long pause.

There was a longer one before Ranma finally sent. 'Maybe if I make a serious one... Gonna have to talk with him about it.'

–

The talk in question happened later that day. Ranma had finally cornered his father in the Tendo Dojo, where the two were still staying. Honestly, he had expected to be forced to leave after Nabiki had been arrested, but apparently Mr Tendo was more occupied with making sure that his girl didn't have her life ruined than with the two guests. In fact, if anything the man was grateful to Genma for assisting where he could.

Unfortunately that made finding Genma almost impossible at times. He was a slippery man on the best of days, but give him a task that he was actually invested in, and it was near impossible to pin him down for anything else. Ranma had almost had to resort to camping out next to the doorway to catch his father.

"Ya know pops, I'm glad you are helping your friend and all, but couldn't you spare some time for your son here and there?" The boy rolled his eyes from the doorway.

Genma gave a harrumph. "You have it so easy my boy, just get up and go to school. I've been running around all day. Give your old man some rest."

"Tch." Ranma made a noise of disbelief. "You can't tell me you are tired. I've seen you run for days on end, a little travel wouldn't even wind ya."

The older man just snorted. "Enough boy, you don't have to believe me, but I have had a long day. What do you want?"

"It's the whole marriage deal." The teen scratched his head as he replied. "It's seriously not something I wanna do anytime soon. The thing is, I want to start on that request you got from the TSAB."

"You can do that anytime boy. All I said I would withhold was the introductory stuff and a few secret techniques." Genma sighed and sat down. This was promising to be a painful session.

The reply was explosive and frustrated. "That's the most important part! Really, how am I gonna start something when I can't even remember the introductory training? I mean I have the basics down pat, but I've totally forgotten the best ways of going about it! It's all instinctive now."

"Idiot boy. I'm not budging on this." The man rumbled as he spoke, and crossed his arms. "Either get married or do it on your own."

The pig-tailed teen growled. "How about I promise you that it happens when I hit twenty? Word of honor and all that."

"No." The reply was flat. "Again, either get married or do it on your own."

Ranma's eyebrow twitched and he clenched and unclenched his hands in an attempt to avoid attacking his father. Around his neck, the newly replaced Nayru glinted as she picked up her master's anger. "I'm not getting married yet damnit!"

Genma sat immobile and unshakable. "You've already blown your chance at convincing Happosai to change the rules he set down. Anything Goes few rules, but the ones it does are unshakable."

"Yeah yeah, steal, sneak, and adapt." The teen waved his hand and then blinked. "Wait. When did Happosai reward you with your mastery? I'm sure he had more hoops than just get married for you two with all the tales of horror."

The old man raised an eyebrow at his son and didn't say anything. That in and of itself made Ranma blink a few times.

"Wait. He never did, didn't he? You probably blew his wrinkly ass up and then just started calling yourselves masters?" The teen asked incredulously.

"The master has always been a very demanding taskmaster." Genma finally spoke. "We have only one real rule. Anything Goes."

"So what's stopping me from saying I am a master now?" The pig-tailed teen finally spoke.

Genma smirked slightly. "I wont deny you from doing so. Neither would Soun. I would even deign to show my hidden techniques to a fellow master. You've certainly earned it by dint of power. I still won't show you how to begin your classes."

"Damnit, not again!" Ranma was almost crying from either frustration or despair, it was hard to tell at this point. "Why not?"

"I'll give you a hint. I want you to get married sometime soon. I however, also want you to grow as a martial artist. What's the best way to learn something?" Genma replied with a serious expression. "To really learn something inside and out? You can practice all day and every day, but there is always going to be a bit of something more to learn that you can only do by one thing."

The teen growled at his father. "I have no clue."

"You teach." Genma adjusted his glasses and stood up. "To really understand something, you have to be able to explain it to others. It's not real mastery until it can be taught. You can either create your own plan based off what you know to be the best basics, or you can ask my help. My help has a price. Your mind however is all yours. Though considering how much of a road block my little demand gave you, I think your mind has been a bit too damaged. I must have dropped you on your head a few too many times."

"Wait, wait." Ranma grabbed at his hair in frustration. "You mean all that I've gone through with Happosai and that demon, all that stress, and everything else, and the answer was to ignore you and do it all myself?"

Genma began to chuckle as he left the dojo. A scream of pure frustration followed him. Followed by a series of very nasty curses as Ranma discovered that Genma had disappeared.

–

–

Nanoha's families dojo wasn't as large as the Tendo's. It was more for personal use than any actual serious teaching. That didn't mean that it wasn't useful. It just meant that it was small and meant to be used only by a few people. It was cozy rather than extensive. It also made it actually a fairly good place to go if you wanted things to be practiced in secret.

This was what Nanoha and Shiro were doing. Or rather what Nanoha was attempting to demonstrate for her father.

"You do know you don't have to do this. My old skills aren't something that you need to concern yourself with." The man spoke quietly from his place in front of his daughter.

Nanoha shrugged and got into a stance as she held out her wooden sword, motioning her father to do the same. "It's part of my family. I care about you all, and I want to say I added something to it. Now that I know about you, I can tell you trained big brother and sister too."

Shiro got into a loose stance and held his training weapon out almost casually. "It never seemed appropriate to teach you. I've seen what you can do, my little techniques can't hold a candle to that. It's not wrong, simply the way the world works. That's the way progression works."

"Hah!" Nanoha charged forward and was almost casually sidestepped. Quick reflexes allowed her to deflect her father's counter, but the block itself made it easy for her father's foot to slip in and trip her. She fell to the ground with a wince.

"That doesn't mean I don't want to learn some." She spoke as she picked herself up. "I'm sure you have a few tricks."

The man fiddled with his sword absentmindedly as he thought. "Some concealment, some speed tricks, and a few awareness tricks. It doesn't hold a candle to Ranma really, he's gotten a lot of the same training."

Nanoha got into her stance again and began to circle her father, who appeared to be ignoring her as he thought. "I don't expect you to do what he does. I know part of what he trained like. It would have been deadly had Genma not been so lucky."

"True." Shiro sidestepped his daughter's next few strikes with quick steps, not missing a beat. "Don't underestimate what Anything Goes adds to the equation. It's ruthless in it's theft and exploitation."

The girl gave a grunt as she found the man's blade at her throat after one particular strike was too aggressive. "Isn't the Ninja stuff sneaky like that too?"

"Not really. There is a lot of honor in my art. A lot of blood too." Shiro took a step back as they got into position again. Nanoha was decent with a sword still, but it was obviously not her primary weapon. "Anything Goes for all it's ruthlessness is a rather bloodless art. My skills were used to kill. It might have been honorable in it's service, but never forget it was designed to be lethal. There are no real bloodless takedowns."

"You make it sound as if you are ashamed of it." Nanoha commented as she settled down to wait. "I'm not. My magic has even more potential to kill. That I don't make it lethal costs significant effort."

The man smiled slightly as he looked at his daughter. "I suppose that's a good thing considering you can level a city block in a few minutes."

"Part and parcel of Mid-Childa magic." Nanoha stared at her father as she waited for him to make the first move. "It's a mid to long range style. The conventional thought for the past few years was that speed and power were king. It's actually what Fate was trained as, and also her specialty."

"And that's changed?" Shiro's smile stayed in place as he moved deliberately and began to strike. One, and two, and three. Nanoha's sword blocked each attack, but she was forced to move back, and by the third strike the man's blade was able to tap her leg in another point. "You are blocking too much. Sidestep."

Nanoha nodded as they got back into their starting position. "The Wolkenritter happened. Their style is close and mid range with some long range to keep people moving. The entire style is a soft counter to Mid-Childa style. Amusingly Ranma's a soft counter to that style as well."

"So you have a trinity going there." Shiro chuckled as he began to repeat his attack.

"Not quite. The Wolkenritter can beat Ranma if they are sure not to play his game since he has an extreme close ranged specialty." Nanoha attempted to sidestep the first attack, but got clipped and stopped with a wince.

"Again." The man ordered before picking up the conversation again. "A peril of being a specialist."

"The one that always wins against Ranma is actually Hayate." Nanoha giggled slightly as she walked to her ready position. "Mostly because the few times she fought him, she panicked and blew up the entire area. Ranma ended up extra crispy from that. She's actually the only one that doesn't spar with him anymore."

Shiro raised an eyebrow before beginning his attack again. The strikes came in the same pattern, and this time Nanoha deflected the first strike before sidestepping the second and managing to counter before the third, and scoring her first point. "I'm glad that he's managed to keep up. I hope he's not injuring himself in the process of doing that anymore though."

"Nope!" The girl chirped happily as she got back into her ready position. "His style practices a sort of strengthening exercise that uses magic, or ki if you wanna call it that, to increase how powerful the body is. It's neat in that if you do it long enough you can shatter stone without any magic whatsoever. Once you can do that, a typical barrier can be broken if you can manage to keep close enough for long enough."

"Ah." Shiro responded as he waited. "That actually sounds pretty standard to most of the more potent styles actually."

"It's a good way to keep up with little magic actually." Nanoha frowned as she tried to plan her attack. "The biggest problem he's had is defense since we can still pour on the power if necessary. The whole level a city block thing."

"And how did he manage to get around that." The question came calmly as the man waited for his daughter to attack.

"At first we helped by charging a barrier." The girl frowned and jabbed forward with her sword, and almost lost it as she was batted away. "Nowadays he does it himself. It's actually pretty simple if you have a container and the proper calculations."

"Really now?" Shiro chuckled as his daughter made a few more probing attacks that were casually batted aside.

"Yep!" Nanoha paused in her attack and held out her sword. The item lit up with power. "See? It's really flashy because I am pouring power in it and it's not been prepared, but this could probably block a decent powered shot from me. Nothing big, but if I took the time I could have it stop an entire Divine Buster."

Nanoha's father tilted his head as he looked at the weapon. "Like this?" His sword didn't glow, but a bit of power shifted into it. Enough that Nanoha could feel it.

"Yeah!" Nanoha blinked a few times. "Wait... I just created a technique didn't I?"

"It has potential." Shiro waved around the sword. "It might very well have potential."

–

–

"Morning Fate." Ranma muttered to the girl with a yawn as he walked into the entrance to the school.

Fate cocked her head at the boy. He looked far less energetic than he usually did. "Are you all right?"

"This idiot decided to stay up half the night hunting for his father again." Akane grit out as she followed the boy. "It's been a few days and he still has a grudge. He kept us up half the night with it too."

The boy grumbled as he replied. "I'm still pissed at him and owe him a major beating."

Fate giggled at her friend as she began to walk towards the school entrance. "I suppose, but I believe it's a bit funny myself. The lesson fits your style fairly well."

Ranma stuck his tongue out at the girl. "It's the principle of the thing. I can't let the old man get one over me."

"I hate to say it, but he really did." Akane pointed out with no small amount of glee.

"Sure, it's pick on Ranma day again." The boy crossed his arms and sniffed, before blinking at the line of sullen looking students next to the door. "What's up with them?"

Akane and Fate both turned to look and blinked as well. On the surface it was just a half dozen students looking very displeased. The girls picked up what was wrong in a moment though. Each of them had a very horrible looking bowl cut. Including the girls amoung them.

"What happened to their hair?" Akane finally voiced.

Noting the attention, the students whimpered. "Quick! Run before they get you too!"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked as a blur swept past him. It wasn't nearly fast enough to get past him, but since he wasn't the target it didn't really register what was happening right away.

Fate had quicker reflexes since she was the target. Unfortunately she neglected to note what was the actual target. The blur missed her by a few feet as she herself blurred out of the way, and resolved itself into a strange looking man with a Hawaiian shirt and a palm tree on his head.

"Aloha!" The man brandished a pair of scissors from his new place in front of the school entrance. "Students at my school need proper haircuts! You all have to get one!"

"Urk." Ranma took a few steps back.

In front of him a few strands of golden hair floated gently to the ground. Fate looked around curiously as the entire school hushed. A palpable air of dread began to build as the blonde haired girl looked at the ground and then at her hair. It was like someone had taken a cleaver to half of it. Her long, almost ground length hair had been cut in half. The cut wasn't even straight due to the way she had dodged.

Everyone edged back even more as the girl smiled brightly at the man. "Bardiche." A chime and the device was being held in front of her.

The tip of it glowed with yellow magic, and the man with the palm tree found himself sweating heavily. His nerve broke as the light continued to grow, but he found himself in chains and unable to move as soon as he edged away. "Hehe, maybe the girl would like a free pass?"

"Fire." Fate's voice was as even as it always was.

The resulting blast was brilliant in it's intensity. It carried the man through the entire school and into the pool on the other side of it, causing a massive explosion of water and debris. In it's wake there was a hole the size of a bus, and the school began to creek ominously as the center of it began to fall into itself. At the side of the pool the man sizzled, still alive, but now sans palm tree and most of his clothes.

"Well..." Ranma said quietly as he chuckled nervously. "That wasn't as bad as I thought." There was a crash from inside the school.

Akane sighed and hung her head. "I think school is canceled for today."

Fate simply twirled Bardiche and deactivated the device. "I need to go get a haircut now. See you tomorrow." With that the girl walked away, ignoring the next crash from inside the school.

* * *

_AN: Long time no see and all that jazz. I'll be honest, I've not been really interested in writing more for this, life and all that jazz has been more interesting lately. This chapter isn't my best work IMO, but at least I managed to get to an end for the Ranma arc. I have some planned for the next arc, but I've been unable to muster the interest to write to be honest, so it's probably not going to be written. It's been a fun ride non-the-less, and I hope that you enjoyed it. _

_Thanks for reading. Sorry for the wait. And hope you enjoyed._


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